


Bare Bones

by CrossBladeWing



Series: Bare Your Heart, Body, and Soul [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Add tags as I go when they're relevant, Fluff and Angst, I DON'T OWN ANYTHING, I'm doing one of my own, Multi, OC looks squishy but is tough, Papyrus Knows More Than He Lets On, Papyrus Needs A Hug, Reader can Fight, Reader is male, Reader looks tough but is actually squishy, Sans Needs A Hug, Sans needs to Chill, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, We need more male reader-inserts, probably, there will be crossovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-30
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2018-07-10 16:21:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 45,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6994876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrossBladeWing/pseuds/CrossBladeWing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>People tended to avoid you. For a lot of reasons.</p><p>You simply accepted it. There wasn't much of a use to try and change their minds when you could put your energy into other things.</p><p>It was simple.</p><p>And then you meet two skeleton monsters and suddenly everything is much more complicated.</p><p>You're so BONED.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. "Monster"...?

**Author's Note:**

> You wanted a Soulmate AU. You get a Soulmate AU.
> 
> You also may have noticed this is part of a series. >:3 
> 
> Enjoy~

“GET OUT YOU MONSTER OR WE WILL CALL THE POLICE!”

You and Fenrir were both “thrown out” of the vet clinic. And by “thrown out”, you simply walk out the door into the street.

You heave a big sigh and Fenrir finally stops grumbling once you’re both outside. You stare him down. Your dog? German Sheppard-Husky? Wolf?--he did resemble more of a wolf than a dog--had deep gray to grey and then white fur, huge paws, and gold eyes. He came up to almost to your waist on all fours, he didn’t bark, he howled and growled, baring sharp white teeth and heckles raising when mad. You had him for 7 years and he’s always been so independent and stubborn, even as a puppy. And of course the two of you always seem to attract trouble.

He huffs up at you, nudging his head against your hand.

You pet him and start walking back home. You knew he scared people.

This wouldn’t be the first time this has happened and definitely not the last.

You also knew you scared people.

At six foot six, you basically towered over everyone. You were all long limbs and large hands and feet, you were fit--not buff enough to show too much muscle and not thin enough to be considered a “walking stick”. You had short-cropped black hair, which spiked up and out, like grass, no matter how many times your tried to tame it, slightly-tanned skin---Well not all of that looked “scary”--no. The problem was your face.

You somehow always seemed like you were in a bad mood, brow pinched together and your eyes didn’t help either, your irises being such a dark gray-blue they were almost black--most people assumed they were anyway and you seemed to scowl all the time.

Most people assumed you were some gangster or you were going to mug them. You weren’t. It was just your face. Your voice didn’t help either. If you tried telling anyone anything they’d flinch. Your voice was deep and slightly scratchy, if you could narrate horror books you’d make a fortune.

Not to mention that you wore overly-baggy clothes, but that was you, loose and comfortable in a t-shirt, cargo shorts, and a hoodie that seemed to only hang around your stomach because it wasn’t long enough to cover your torso. You didn’t mind.

But everyone else seemed to. You think back to the vet-tech who called you “monster”.

“Monster”--That along with “Freak” “Giant” “Demon”--was a word used to describe you often, but none of them were the words on your skin.

Every person is born with a word or phrase, marked somewhere on their body. They were the first words said to you by your soulmate. They’d appear upon their soulmate’s birth, and in the exact same place on the body. They don’t always show up upon birth, maybe later in life, which might have caused a few incidents with age differences, but that certainly wasn’t too much of a problem.

Some had simple little phrases like “Hi my name is ____” or something strange like “Cookie”, and then there were the vulgar ones, like curse words.

All of them were unique even if some of them were the same word, there was a certain style, unique to each mark, what language it was in, how the letter’s looked, jagged, elegantly curved, thin, thick, hollow, or if there were added details, like stars or geometric patterns.

All in all soul-marks looked like elaborate tattoos.

You unconsciously run your hands over the sleeves of your hoodie. You had two soulmarks. You found that they were both a source of comfort and a source of distress to you. It was a rare thing to have more than one soulmark. They were comforting in that you actually had soulmarks since birth, which meant that there were soulmates out there for you. One of the marks made you happy on more than one occasion. They were distressing because you had two. Were you really so incomplete? And the obvious places they were in and the wording of one of them unsettled you.

Your marks were written up and down the inside of your forearms, extending all the way from your wrists to your elbow. 

The letters on your left arm, crawled down your arm and were all in capital letters, thin, sharp, and slightly hollow. They read: **NYEH HEH HEH!!! WOWIE FRIEND!!!** This mark comforted you and gave you a sense of great importance because they had the word “friend”. You lost count on how many times these words saved you. They warmed your heart.

The letters of your right arm, crawled upword and the words were thicker, rounded, and also slightly hollow. They read: **wanna have a bad time?** These words always seemed to knock you back into reality. “Bad time” indeed. They gave you a sense of cold foreboding and you found yourself saying the words as threats multiple times. They cooled your head.

It took you some time looking through Fonts to find out your marks were written in Papyrus and Comic Sans fonts, but despite the fonts and the words, the letters looked like bones.

Speaking of bones...that was the reason you had to even visit the vet in the first place. Fenrir over the course of several months, brought home bones. It was discomforting to say the least. 

He was independent and could take care of himself, but just where was he getting all of these bones? Another strange thing was that they all seemed to either be femurs or humerus bones--IDENTICAL femur and humerus bones. You inspected them thoroughly, there were similar in shape, size, length, even the sound they made if you hit two of them together or against the carpeted floor.

You were certain they weren’t normal bones either. They looked like perfectly smooth,white bones, no scratches no imperfections, even from Fenrir’s teeth and you knew how sharp his teeth were--it’s why you NEVER tried putting a collar on him or getting him on a leash again.

You almost panicked when Fenrir returned one day with a glowing blue bone in his jaws, which brings you to why you even tried to see the vet. If the bone was paint then he could get sick, but the staff took one look at you both and tolerated you for all of 3 minutes before you were kicked out.

Now you were just walking home. 

You lived in the quiet outskirts of a city near the infamous Mt. Ebbot. It was a quiet neighborhood, not many families, usually older couples or young people on their own. The rumors surrounding the mountain gave cause for families with children to stay away. 

Then you showed up. The neighborhood was even more quiet, a lot of rumors started up when you moved in. For example, you were some ex-convict who finally got out of prison after 10 years of being locked up or you were some shady gangster laying low for a while. You weren’t even sure where people even got this information, but you left it alone. You kept to yourself and so far none have been brave enough to try and prove those claims.

Well almost, you’d gotten some college kids try to talk to you, but they’d just flounder their mouths like fishes before running off while you just stood there, waiting for them to speak or some really shady looking guys would come up to you or follow you as you walked home at night. Fenrir was usually with you and he growled at anyone he didn’t like if they got too close, but you could take care of yourself.

A couple of guys trying to mug you learned that lesson really well.

Now just about a couple months back monsters were freed and a child who went missing some months back also came with them. It was all over the news and people really freaked out. 

A lot of humans moved out of town then, you were among the many others still that stayed. Some just simply didn’t want to be around the monsters, others wanted to stand their ground, and some simply couldn’t leave. 

You had no plans to move. You’d already made your place.

In the next weeks after monsters were freed, they were put into housing, mostly the vacant houses in the outskirts (like where you lived) and all of a sudden the neighborhood is busy with monster activity, especially the shopping district and the local schools.

You got more looks and stares and children openly asking questions as you walked in your neighborhood, occasionally you’d get squeaks or fearful looks if you made eye contact so you kept walking.

Humans...Monsters...who was the “monster” again? 

Thankfully the street is quiet and you arrive at your house without incident. You quickly unlock the door and let Fenrir in. He sits by the door waiting for you.

You look around your little one-story house. It has 3 bedrooms, two of which were empty, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room and a garage. It was sparsely furnished and simply decorated. However, the glowing blue bone still lay amongst various other bones bedside a cushion Fenrir uses. 

The rest of the ones he’s been bringing have been put into boxes which sit and gather dust in your spare rooms. It was ridiculous.

You sprawl onto the couch--it’s not big enough to fit you unless you curl your legs in but it’s comfy, but made significantly smaller when Fenrir decides he wants to cuddle you. He hops up and lays on your legs and stomach his head and front paws on your chest.

You laugh and weeze. “You’re too big for this Fen.” you croak as you pet his head, but he simply stares at you with his golden eyes and grumbles. His paw presses into the pendant on your chest and you pull it out from under your shirt to inspect it.

It’s a crystal of some sort, pointed but not sharp, it’s clear except for the wash of beautiful gold that seems to move for it’s center out towards its edges, as if someone took sunlight and ground it into powder and poured it into a crystal. It was beautiful and unique, which was why you kept it hidden and why it never left your neck, attached by a thin brown cord.

You looked down at a similar chord wrapped around Fenrir’s own paw, but his was much thicker and it seemed loosely wrapped around but you never moved it. He almost bit your hand off when you tried, much like with a collar you simply let him be.

You tuck the pendant under your shirt again, petting your friend as he closes his eyes in contentment.

You sigh and then your phone vibrates in your pocket you have to wiggle a bit and Fenrir jumps off you as you “oomph” and take out your phone and check the caller I.D.

It’s your boss. You shift so that’s you’re simply sitting down and lounging back against your couch.

Once you answer she’s already talking. 

“- - - - -! This is going to be BIG!” She sounded excited.

You hummed. Your boss knew enough to know you were listening and waiting for her explanation.

“Ok so there’s this huge monster picnic-party coming up to celebrate their arrival on the surface--”

You listened to her prattle on and on, Fenrir moves to sit between your legs and places his head in your lap again, you run your fingers through his fur. Eventually she got to the point of what exactly you’ll be doing.

“So think you can do it?” she asks.

“Of course.” You say.


	2. “Soulmate”...?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the skelebros and what their soulmarks mean to them

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is much longer than i thought it's be but oh well
> 
> it's good to see some of you are enjoying this! :3
> 
> ~50 kudos and 250+ hits and 15 bookmarks! xD

Sans has stared at the words written on his radius bones since they showed up, long before the RESETs when he was a young babybones. They’re carefully hidden under his signature blue hoodie and the sleeves of his white turtleneck.

It hurt to look at them, well one in particular. The word carved into his right radius were large, taking up most of the space on his bones, uppercase letters was his name: **SANS!!!**. The word was carved deep in his bone.

He couldn’t remember much of his time as a babybones, but he did remember that.

It was the first word his brother Papyrus ever said to him, grabbing onto his radius, tiny hands on either side of his soulmark, and calling out his name in such a loud voice.

_He had to take care of his baby brother._

_It was just the two of them._

_Papyrus was a quiet baby, pacifier between his teeth, crawling around in his red baby-onesie, one tiny hand wrapped around the red scarf Sans used as a blanket for him._

_Despite, not speaking, he did smile and laugh, babbling incoherently, especially when he seemed to get himself in trouble._

_Papyrus would spill his milk--they had carpeted floors. Throw his toys, using Sans as a target--Papyrus’s aim seemed to get better so Sans had to learn to dodge. Papyrus crawled around EVERYWHERE. He had no boundaries._

_It was a lot of work and eventually the exhaustion of taking care of his brother caused him to pass out on the couch._

_He didn’t know how long he was asleep for, but when he woke up it was to his brother you’d somehow found his way to him. Papyrus was standing up on wobbly legs, grabbing and shaking his radius and calling his name, orange tears at the corner of his eyes._

_**“SANS!!!”** he wailed. It was his word. The word carved into his bone, held tightly in his brothers small hands. Sans’s eyes shined blue and his soul felt it would jump from his rib cage. Papyrus’s own eyes shone orange and his orange soul shone through his onesie._

_He lifted a hand toward his other arm towards his brother and brought him to his lap, still clutching his radius in his hands._

_“hey hey, pap. what the matter? what’s wrong?” he’d asked in a small voice. He didn’t realize he himself was crying until Papyrus reached up for him, finally letting go of his radius._

_“Sans!...” he called. “heh, what is it bro?” he answered._

Papyrus gave him hope. Even when he gave up working as a scientist, even when he worked multiple jobs, even when he made terrible puns to cover up his depression, even when he forced a smile, even when his HP eventually lowered itself to 1.

Papyrus was the one thing that kept his hope, his last hope, his only hope.

Even when he was the Judge.

Even when his LV and EXP rose, his HP and ATK and DEF did not, even when his sleep was plagued with nightmares, even when he stopped sleeping, taking naps...

He could take on everything, take on anything, if all for his brother.

And for him, Sans endured it until all they needed was one more soul.

And then his other soulmark appeared. His life took a 180 degree turn after that. It showed up some time before he met Frisk for the first time, before the RESETS.

It had appeared on his left radius was his other soulmark. In a light and simple script were the words: **Why do you smile?** and if he looked closely there were star and diamond patterns around the words, like someone threw stars or glitter onto them. They were thin carvings into his bones than Papyrus’s mark was, the letters in an almost elegant script.

The words seemed to mock him.

_He woke up in his bed, for once having slept peacefully without nightmares, days after they’d collected the sixth soul. He found it a strange yet welcome relief that he had actually slept without nightmares._

_“SANS! GET UP YOU LAZYBONES! I HAVE TO GO PATROL FOR HUMANS AND YOU NEED TO BE AT YOUR SENTRY STATION!” his brother yelled, knocking on his door with his fists._

_Sans smiled and got out of bed, then he noticed something on his left arm. The white t-shirt he wore to bed, easily showing both of his arms. Papyrus’s soulmark was on his right radius._

_And now there was a new soulmark appeared on Sans’s left radius. He sat on the edge of his bed heavily, as he stared down at his left arm. His sockets wide with shock, apprehension, fear, hope?_

_Why this? Why now? What about Papyrus? He was already fully grown--he had another soulmate? And a child? Who could it be?_

_His mind raced for answers, but he found none._

_“SANS!!!” his brother called._

_He couldn’t tell Papyrus._

Then Frisk happened, and Sans was forced to live through the same days, over and over and over again, they either only got as far as the surface to see the sunset and then a RESET, or Sans would fight them in the Judgement Hall, or they would simply leave without any of them, every possible scenario under the mountain.

Sans had confronted Frisk multiple times as to why and Frisk never gave him an answer.

Until after several runs, neutral, genocide and pacifist, they showed him the words carved into their chest: **Howdy! I’m Flowey! Flowey the flower!**

They explained that they’d been resetting, trying to save Flowey or Asriel. They had to; they couldn’t just leave him there. He was their soulmate. Sans understood.

Sans nearly forgot about the other mark, he pretended he only had one: Papyrus’s for a long time. 

Sometimes, during the Genocide runs, as he lay in the hall, red seeping from his bones or when they make it just outside the barrier, and he sees the sun, he thinks of his other soulmate, that he hadn’t met yet, never went out of his way to find...

And he thinks about how unfair he’s been to them because he’s afraid.

Afraid to care, afraid to want, to wish...afraid to HOPE; hope that he’d never meet them. He was afraid that they wouldn’t be waiting for him, afraid that he’d have to leave Papyrus. 

Irrational fears, clouding his judgement--heh, he, the Judge, was judging himself--not anymore.

It was easier to give up, but he tried...for once after so long he tried.

He went to find them, during his “spare time” (heh) looking Underground, but he could only meet so many monsters with everything going on.

The ones he’d met never said the words. And Sans kept losing hope about finding his other soulmate until he came to one last possible conclusion: his other soulmate was human. On the surface.

And Sans lost hope of even getting up there a long LONG time ago. He doubted he’d be there long enough to see that city beyond the forest, let alone find his other soulmate.

So Sans just gave up, he tried once and it was the last time he was going to.

If they wanted to find him, they’d come to him.

But no one came.  
\- - - -

Papyrus didn’t know what the words on his left radius meant when he got old enough to read them. It was a simple phrase, but precious words. They read: **i’ll take care of you. i promise.** In small simple lettering, he felt the deep grooves the words had made into his bones. 

He had always wondered why he had them. They didn’t come of if he washed them and healing magic didn’t do anything to them either. When he asked Sans about it he said, “that’s your soulmark bro.”

He didn’t remember a lot from his time a as a babybones, but he remembered when Sans explained soulmarks to him.

_“What’s A Soulmark?” he asked. Sans just smiled at him and knelt down so they were eye-level with each other._

_Sans took his arm and pushed up the sleeve of Papyrus’s little red-orange jacket a bit more so he could see his mark._

_“a soulmark is the first words your soulmate will say to you.”_

_“Soulmate?” he asked._

_“yea pap. soulmate. someone who’s going to be with you forever.”_

_“Like A Friend?” he asked, enthusiastically._

_Sans grin grew. “sure bro like your friend. your soulmate is always going to be there for you.”_

_“Wowie...But What About You Sans?”_

_“w-what about me papyrus?”_

_“If I have a soulmate, does that mean you have one?” his curiosity growing._

_“Uhhh....” “OH!” “what?”_

_Papyrus hugged his brother tight around the middle. “I Have An Idea! Why Don’t You Be My Soulmate Brother? ” He asked, snuggling into his brother stomach._

_Sans was silent. Papyrus thought nothing of it._

_“hey pap?” Sans’s voice sounded strange. Papyrus eyes bright and smile wide._

_Sans held out his right arm and pushed up his sleeve. Sans’s jacket was a big on him, but Papyrus’s sockets widened and he dug his hands into his brother shirt as he saw what was written on his brother’s arm: **SANS!!!**_

_“this is my soulmark bro.”_

_“Wowie!..." "Does This Mean We Get To Be Soulmates?” he asked._

_“i’m not going anywhere. I’ve got to take care of you. i promised didn’t i?” he chuckled, hugging Papyrus to him._

_Papyrus looked from his mark to Sans face and back several times._

_“Sans?”_

_“uh huh?”_

_“Are you my soulmate?”_

_“i’m sans.” Papyrus made a face._

_“Am I your soulmate, Sans? No Jokes!” he asked, trying again._

_“you’re papyrus.” Papyrus reached up and squished his brother’s cheekbones, bringing him down to Papyrus’s level. He brought their faces close together._

_Sans’s face glowed blue. “Yeah we’re soulmates pap.” Papyrus jumped for joy, his soul nearly bursting from his chest. He jumped onto his brother holding him around the neck as Sans supported him._

_“THEN WE GET TO BE TOGETHER FOREVER! Right, Sans?” Sans knocked their foreheads together._

_“course, bro.”_

As time passed, Sans began to change. He quit his small jobs to be a scientist’s lab assistant at the Lab in Hotlands. Papyrus didn’t mind, he was old enough then to take care of himself, but he’d have been lying if he said he wasn’t a bit lonely without Sans. He didn’t have many friends.

As time went on though, Papyrus noticed that Sans would come home, smile still on his face but less enthusiastic, and over time he just came home with a strained smile and a “i’m home”.

Then the accident at the Core happened and Sans quit being a scientist altogether. Sans never told him why.

Then the first human fell. Papyrus wasn’t part of the Royal Guard then so all he knew was that the soul was taken and Asgore just needed 6 more.

Papyrus never saw the humans, he only heard the announcements of when King Asgore got a new one until he had 6 and there was only 1 left to go.

Despite all of this, Sans was losing hope. He’d be going to Grillby’s, drinking ketchup, telling jokes, sleeping: on the job, on break, at home, and keeping that fake smile on his skull.

Papyrus tried his best to keep his brother’s soul up. He learned how to make spaghetti, took care of the chores in the house, made and calibrated puzzles, and even pretended to hate Sans jokes, just so he had to tell more. 

Sans had taken on more jobs: a sentry for the Royal guard with multiple posts throughout the Underground, a hotdog salesman, etc.

But he couldn’t do that forever. Sans couldn’t always take care of him. Papyrus wanted to take care of him too! So he got himself training from Undyne, Captain of the Royal Guard, so he could work as a Royal Guardsman (even if it was after much begging and pleading).

Papyrus, being the GREAT brother, had always been there for Sans, like Sans had always been there for him. Sans had promised to take care of him all those years ago and now it was Papyrus’s turn to take care of his lazy brother.

They were soulmates afterall.

Then shortly after the sixth soul was collected, Papyrus woke up one day with a new soulmark on his right radius bone. It read: **I think you’re pretty great.** The letters were thinner than Sans’s words on his opposite radius, simple, elegant, and somehow sweet. He especially liked the small stars and twinkles that accented the words.

However, he worried about what it meant. He had another soulmate? Not just Sans? Who were they? Why did it show up now? He was confused and worried, especially about Sans seeing it.

It didn’t feel right in his soul.

He remembered when he discovered them one morning.

_He’d gone for a cooking lesson with Undyne at her house, freshly rebuilt after she burnt it down the last time._

_He wore an orange sweater, his red scarf, blue pants, and his red boots, since he didn’t have his armor ready yet._

_“NGGAAHH! Are you ready for your lesson Papyrus?!” Undyne said. She was observing his work that day rather than having him cook with her._

_“THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS ALWAYS READY!” He promptly, pushed up the sleeve of his right arm._

_Undyne went quiet, so Papyrus turned back to her, concerned. She was staring at him with her one golden eye is surprise and her face broke out into a sharp smile and she put him into a headlock and noogied him._

_“PLEASE DON’T NOOGIE THE SKELETON!” “Fuhuhuhu! Ya punk! Why didn’t you tell me you had another soulmark?!”_

_Papyrus froze. “What?” he said, voice quiet. He’d only ever shown Undyne his mark from Sans. Undyne immediately picked up on his change in demeanor._

_“You know the one on your other arm? Right here.” She took his arm and showed it to him._

_He panicked when he saw it, even if he liked what the words said._

_“PleaseDon’tTellAnyone!!!” Papyrus begged Undyne, who was ranting about how awesome and cool it was to have two soulmates. He was almost in tears._

_“What?” she asked, confusion obvious on her face. “Please Undyne.” he continued._

_“Alright, alright I won’t.” she relented, letting go of him. He could feel her gaze on him, as he looked at the ground, clutching his new mark._

_“Let’s just continue the lesson punk.” She punched him in the shoulder, nearly knocking him over. He gave her a grateful smile and nodded. They continued the lesson, but Papyrus kept his sleeves down._

Thankfully, after that he could easily cover them with his sweaters and particularly when he made his “Battle Body” they could be hidden under his black, bone-tight suit and red gloves.

It was one of the reasons why he never took it off.

Asgore just needed one more soul and they’d be free. He could see the surface, see the sun, have the wind blow through his hair, and so many other things.

He put his other soulmate at the back of his mind, focusing on capturing humans, threw himself into his training and making spaghetti and taking care of Sans. 

He could meet them after they were free, he reasoned. They’d be fine. They could wait. He convinced himself.

For now, he had Sans...and that was enough.

Right?

\- - - -

...*knock* “...sans...”

*knock Knock* “Sans!”

*KNOCK KNOCK* “SANS.”

*BAM* “SANS!!!”

Sans opened his sockets to his brother, bursting his door open.

“Wwhhhaa?...pap? time iz it?” he said sleepily.

“GOOD MORNING BROTHER. IT’S NEARLY 10 O CLOCK! WE NEED TO GET GOING! TODAY IS THE PICNIC! ALL OF OUR FRIENDS ARE ALREADY HERE!!!” Papyrus said, waving his arms wildly, he was already dressed in his Battle Body.

Sans could feel the excitement radiating of his brother. It brought a smile to his face as he sat up, rubbing his socket with his right arm. He then froze. He’d gone to bed with just a white shirt on.

He had to get Papyrus out of his room quick.

“Ok ok i’ll be down in a minute.” he said.

“OK SANS BUT HURRY UP!” and he was out the door. That was close.

Sans took a shortcut downstairs.

Picnic huh?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: picnic time!!!!
> 
> As before, comments and feedback and suggestions welcome!!
> 
> Stay Determined.


	3. A "Sweet" Picnic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's picnic day...where is your boss?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some backstory on you and you're boss...;) next chapter you get everyone else.

The party/picnic wasn’t even in full swing yet and the park was already crowded. You’d slowly watched monsters arrive from your place, leaning against a tree between two half-made booths by several tents for the staff to keep their tools and keep their bags and other such things.

You were waiting for your boss to show up, she had most of the equipment and you were going to have to assemble the presentation on-site. She had called you earlier that morning to tell you she would arrive at the park with the equipment to store your tarts and cakes. You were worried about her, even if you didn’t show it well. 

The two of you had spent the better part of the past week experimenting with different pastries and desserts for the event, making cakes, rainbow jellies, parfaits, custards, and of course tarts. You couldn’t remember a time when you baked so much food. And you seriously got into it.

It took sometime, but eventually you both decided 3 things: simple fruit-filled sponge cakes, with light whipped cream-frosting, decorated with more fruits in different arrangements and in different sizes--you didn’t dare go over three tiers-- jello shots of different flavors, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic--you were sure there’d be children present-- and lastly mini-tarts and pies, the tarts were of either lemon or orange meringue, graham cracker crusts and you piped on different designs onto them with frosting, the pies were more simple: chocolate-banana-cream, pecan, key-lime, pumpkin-spice.

Thinking back on it now, perhaps you went a bit overboard...you sighed, but you couldn’t help it you loved to bake, despite your...well...”manly” disposition, you enjoyed it immensely and you got a lot of joy when people enjoyed your work.

You checked your watch. Your boss would be here soon. Fenrir had already laid down by your feet and had been taking a nap for several minutes now. You crouched down to run your hands over his thick grey fur.

There were a few monsters and humans who hesitantly, looked your way and you saw several talking amongst themselves.They still flinched at your movements and if you looked their way. Your chef’s coat, apron, pants and shoes, doing nothing to help their anxiety and fear. You’d worn it just as a precaution, so any other monster or human wouldn’t think you weren’t supposed to be there. You had even embroidered your name onto the chest of your chef’s coat.

Fenrir’s ears picked up as you heard the familiar rumble of the shop’s truck lumber up the street. You and fenrir get up and make your way over to the truck, fully aware of the weird looks you got, but again fully ignoring them in favor of your boss, jumping from the driver’s seat once she’s parked the truck and tackling you into a hug around your waist.

She was only about 5’ 3” to your 6’ 6” so unfortunately you did have to look down at her. Her shoulder length brown hair was pulled away from her face and her brown eyes sparkled with excitement, a broad smile on her round face. She was already in her work uniform, sleeves rolled up, she props her chin against your sternum.

“Hey ____. How’s it going? Did I make you wait long?” You shrugged and shook your head in answer. She peers around you to give a heated glare to whoever was staring holes into the two of you. 

“Nobody’s been giving you trouble right?” her voice almost drips with venom as compared to how sweet she was. Again you shake your head, which causes her to puff her cheeks and huff, squeezing you a bit more until Fenrir comes to your rescue, by nosing his way between you.

“FEN!” she exclaimed. Fenrir grumbled but let her ruffle his fur at his neck affectionately. Your boss loved dogs, even Fenrir who was usually attached to you and not really anyone else was no exemption to her affections. She knew how far to take her actions though, stopping and then standing up hands on her hips and a serious look on her face.

“You ready?” She smirked in challenge and you grinned crookedly. To other this looked like a dangerous smirk, but she knew you well and took it as an answer. 

“ALRIGHT! Let’s get to work!” She took you to the back of the truck and opened the back, as several other cars showed up, most likely your “co-workers”. Your boss got them working, even as a few cast curious if not hesitant glances your way. She locked eyes with you, suddenly unsure on her decision for you to be there.

You both shared the memory of when you first started working for her.

_You had just moved into town and not a lot of people knew you then, but your demeanor kept people away. You were looking for a job, but you were turned away at each place you applied to for work. You had some money from your previous job but that couldn’t last you more than a month no matter how you stretched the money--How were you going to stay in Ebbot if you couldn’t find a decent way to make money to support yourself and the weird new dog you got?_

_As if on cue, Fenrir popped his head out of the opening in your one-shoulder bag. When did he--?! Welp, nothing much you could do about him there now... To add to your problems that day you it had also started to rain. It rained HARD. You knew it was going to rain, but you lost track of time! You hastily turn your bag around and shrug off your hoodie and wrap your bag in it, hoping to keep it dry._

_You quickly started making your way towards home, under the minimal shelter of the overhanging awnings above shop windows. “This day couldn’t get any worse...” you thought. You thought you were doing so well!...You’re crashed with a few moments of self-pity and hatred, the stress of the move finally getting to you or had it been building up since you got there?...Tears blurred your vision as you stopped under a larger awning of some shop. You wiped your tears while your new companion whined in distress at you._

_**“Big boys don’t cry, ___.”** You bit the inside of your lower lip, scrunching your face in frustration. You fully faced the shop window and glared at your reflection in the glass, defiant but sad. You almost wanted to break the glass, you reeled your fist back, but you stopped. Violence never solved anything for you..._

_Your thoughts were interrupted as you looked into the shop window. There were beautiful tiered cakes on display, one had white frosting and beautiful edible flowers and intricate piping, cascading down the tiers like a waterfall, another had fruit arranged in bright arrangements, and cute little animals figures on it and another seemed to be covered in different candies and sugar crystals..._

_You were so entranced by the display that you didn’t notice the argument going on between a woman and a man behind the cakes in window inside the shop. Your trance was broken when you hear the loud slamming of a door and lots of yelling._

_“--This is bullshit! I’ve done ma job wha da fuck else you want?!!!---” A male voice slurs, obviously irritated._

_“--You’re high, while still on the job and you’ve been drinking...AGAIN!!!--” A female voice calmly says, but you can hear her dangerous tone._

_“--C’mn boss lighten up...--” The guy tries to joke._

_“NO. You’ve been doing this for months and I’m tired of it!! You’re fired” The woman is firm. You slowly make your way into the alleyway around the side of the shop. Once you reach the corner to the back of the shop, you hide by the dumpster as you watch. A man is facing away from you, dressed in ragged jeans and sneakers and a messy chef’s coat his hair is a messy blonde. A woman is in a much cleaner chef’s coat and apron, hair tied partially back. She stands in a doorway, where you can smell burnt goods._

_The woman is pretty short and the man isn’t very tall either, but the guy’s fists are balled and shaking with anger, while the woman’s is a face of cold fury, her arms crossed and brown eyes glaring right at the guy._

_“Who da hell do ya think you are?! Ya can’t fire me!” the guys yells._

_“And why not? I’m given you too many chances, Michael.” the woman states._

_The guy surges forward fist raised and swipes at the woman who effectively dodges but he catches he and pins her to a wall. You run up to them, tucking your bag in one arm and grabbing “Michael’s” arm with the other, so he doesn’t hurt the woman, who he has by the neck against the wall. She stared wide-eyed at you and stopped struggling against his hold._

_“Wha da fu--?...” He look back and up at you. You’re looming over him, drenched and soaking, glaring at him._

_“Let. Go.” you command and the guy drops the woman in his fear, shaking like a leaf. You pick him up by the collar and throw him away, standing in front of the woman protectively._

_“Get lost.” you glare just as a flash of lightning and boom of thunder crash above you. The guy hightails it out of there, tail between his legs. You watch him until you can no longer see him, hear his cries, or his footsteps._

_The woman continued to cough and try to catch her breath as you bent down to help her. You hesitated to touching her as she breathed deeply, but it was shallow and weezy. Your companion whined at her, howling lowly. You gently picked her up as best you could and brought her inside the shop and out of the rain, not minding her incoherent mumbling._

_You put your bag down and Fenrir jumped out, sniffing around. You placed the woman down on the floor briefly and rummaged around the shop for chairs from the tables and rummaged around the closets for towels and cloth. The shop was fairly large, open space with some tables and chairs and several booths. The glass display case took up half the store with it’s counter and various other shelves for baked goods and register. The back was the kitchen, the employee break room/locker room, and an office._

_You arranged the chairs in the breakroom and some spare cloth you found as a makeshift bed and used a dry towel your found as a pillow. You brought the woman to it and gently laid her down. Then you spent some time drying yourself off with a few other towels you’d found. The woman wasn’t too wet so her clothes would dry eventually...you hoped. You left her to rest and went back to the kitchen where Fenrir was waiting patiently for you by your bag._

_You finally looked over the kitchen properly. It was a mess, there were burnt pastries in the trashcan, an open oven with burnt pieces of what was probably some cake sticking to the walls, cake batter lay in a huge bowl, unused as well as several icing packets, bowls and tools...the guy “Michael” was probably half-assing his job! It was a waste of ingredients!--You had that familiar urge to make something...and before you knew it you had made a simple sponge cake, cleaned the kitchen, and put away all of the tools and bowls._

_You sat down in another chair after remembering to close the back door, putting your head in your hands...WHAT the hell were thinking?! You can’t just barge into a shop, ransack it for supplies and use the kitchen to make food! Even if it was to help someone who worked there! You almost fell out of the chair because the woman stood in the doorway, watching you with wide eyes...water bottle in one hand and phone in the other. Shit._

_You grabbed your bag and Fenrir and ran out the back door, the woman calling after you. Way to go ___ great first impression! The rain had let up a bit while you were in the shop and you ran like hell all the way home, slamming the door behind you and slumping against it, heaving for breath. You passed out moments later to Fenrir’s distressed whines._

_When you woke up, you knew instantly you’d gotten yourself sick as you peered around the white hospital room. You immediately sat up and your head swam and pounded, it felt like your skull was full of cotton and you felt a strange icy burn across your entire body. Your attention was drawn to the woman in the chair next to you, Fenrir in her lap. She was asleep, but immediately grumbled as some noise from the machine, which was hooked to you by sensor’s was detached by your movement and sent the machine into very high-pitched alert mode._

_She rubbed her eyes and nearly dropped Fenrir in her rush to sit up._

_“Oh my god you’re awake!” she cried, taking one of your hands in both of hers. You noted you had much larger hands than she did. You looked at her oddly, and almost pulled away. “Do you remember me? I’m the owner of Sweet Dream. You helped me a few nights ago?” You nodded, then gestured around, trying to ask why you were there, but you didn’t trust your mouth to form the words._

_She seemed to understand._

_“You actually left your hoodie and phone at my shop. That’s how i was able to find you, but when i found your place you were laying by the front door and running a fever of 104 degrees. I called 911 and here we are not two days later.” she said this as if it was the most casual thing in the world._

_Fenrir jumped from her lap to your side and snuggled in as close as he could without breaking the contact you had with the woman. You brought your other hands to gently pet him._

_“He’s really loyal. Wouldn’t let any of us near you for a good few hours, even when someone called animal control. The little guy wouldn’t leave your side.” she continued, lightly brushing fingers over his fur.You watch her gaze fondly at your friend._

_It was then that you noticed that your arms were bare, someone must have taken your sleeves and changed your clothes while your were unconscious. This caused you to sweat internally, thinking about all the random strangers who must’ve seen the marks...or at least the nurse or doctor who respected them enough to put an I.V. in your left hand rather than your arm.The room lapsed into silence as the woman continued holding your hand and petting Fenrir._

_She stared off into space, deep in thought and then she came back as a nurse came in to check on you. “Ah...Mr.___, You’re awake. How do you feel?” the nurse asked. You shake your hand in a so-so motion. “Ok, well I’m Felicia and I’m your nurse for tonight.” she said. She didn’t say anything more as she took your temperature and noted some things down, trying to touch you as little as possible._

_The woman in the chair never stopped watching her and it seemed to make the nurse uncomfortable. When the nurse left, she briefly said that someone would be coming with dinner, not making eye contact with either you or the woman in the chair._

_She broke the silence, “Wow...rude.” you didn’t respond. “so...Mr. ___ ___, i don’t believe i’ve introduced myself. My name is (f/n) (l/n), but you can call me “Boss” from now on.” What? You jerked your head to look at her incredulously. She smiles wide at you._

_“You know that cake you made was amazing...and i’m currently looking for a good pastry chef, since I had to let the last one go...” she trailed off, rubbing her neck which was bandaged a little. You couldn’t believe what you were hearing. She pulled out an application from seemingly nowhere and handed it to you._

_“So how about it?” she asked, smiling gently._

The rest was history, but you had decided early on that you wanted to keep your employment a “secret” from anyone else, not wanting to damage the “reputation” of Boss’s shop. (You didn’t care about what others said of you but you cared about what people said about those you considered your friends.)She wasn’t too happy about it, but agreed only if you’d do deliveries for her when not working as a patissiere. You begrudgingly agreed and still wore a hat and sunglasses when you did. (She didn’t say much about it other than the fact it made you look shady, whether to deter you or not you weren’t sure.)

Despite her feelings on the matter she was also considerate of yours. Your boss was amazing that way. She was very diligent with her work and attentive.

You usually didn’t interact with any of the others workers of the shop. You kept to the kitchen most of the time and usually only late at night when no one else was around. You worked the kitchen, while the others worked in other parts of the shop, like the counter or the cashier or waiting on customers. 

It was rare for you to be seen by any of the workers and for some of them it would be their first time seeing you or meeting you. However, you knew most of the regular staff by name and face because Boss had told you early on about her permanent staff and her part-timers. One of the girls was staring at you intently with a defiant look in her eyes, while her friend hid behind her slightly, seeming much more shy than her friend. 

“Boss! Who’s this guy?” her tone was haughty and more than a little suspicious, she didn’t trust you.

Boss didn’t bat an eye, but leveled her gaze on the girl. She walked over to stand in front of you and jerked her thumb towards you. “This guy is helping us out for the day. He’s a friend of mine. Show him respect. He may look scary but he’s a great guy.” She was commanding and left no room for argument. You stared down at her and she looked back to you, patted you on the arm and smiled. You softened a little at her and to your and her surprise the shy girl came out from behind her friend to walk up to the two of you.

She was trembling slightly, but she tried to hold your gaze and stuck out her hand. “P-please e-excuse M-maya. It’s n-nice t-to mee-meet you, sir. I-i’m Na-natalie.” She blushed and stumbled. You took her hand and gave it a shake. “___.” you said, smiling lightly. She smiled and you let go.

Your boss clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. “Alright now that that’s over...LET’S GET TO WORK EVERYBODY!!!” She winked at you both and you shrugged and followed her, everyone else trailing behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who's ready for a fateful encounter?
> 
> Stay Determined.


	4. “Sticks and Bones”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...or “Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones But Words Shall Never Hurt Me” apparently does not apply to you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been sitting in my computer and since it's the 4th of July I thought "why not"? (Happy American Independence Day for those of you in AMERICA if not welp here's an update for this fic *shrug*)
> 
> ENJOY THE FIREWORKS!
> 
> Thanks so much for the 150+ kudos, 30+ bookmarks, and 1350+ hits!!

With so many people, you finished setting up and arranging the displays, adding the last touches to them and storing them in temporary dessert racks. They’d only be put out 10 minutes before the event and they had plenty of volunteers to help.Your boss let you take off a bit early since they had so many hands on deck. You made the motion for her to call you if she needed and she all but pushed you out.

You made your way to the employee/ volunteer tents and changed into your normal, cargo pants, shoes, vest, sunglasses and cap and just walked around the park grounds with Fenrir. You quietly watched a few monsters and men hanging lights and carrying trays of food to tables and boxes of supplies to booths. 

You didn’t try to help, again because most people got the wrong idea, but you’d still catch something if it fell or adjusted ladders on the verge of tipping and hammered some booths together, which didn’t seem nailed down properly anyway...(It seemed some higher power was determined to keep you busy today.) People gave you shaky smiles and quiet thanks, never meeting your eyes, which you only nodded to. You never spoke, even when you heard the deep breaths and exhales and quiet words behind your back. You ignored them, even when Fenrir growled at them.

You led him away to the more open and grassy area of the park, spotting a large playground and fountain in the distance. You simply walked with Fenrir along the stone pathways between flowers and bushes and trees, there weren’t many people there and you could enjoy the scenery without a lot of prying eyes.

About an hour before the party picnic was supposed to start, you were with with Fenrir on one of the small grassy hills, taking a small nap under the shade of a tree when you and Fenrir take notice of a steadily growing crowd of monsters heading towards the event space. Sitting up, you run your hands through Fenrir’s thick grey fur as he lay beside you, head in your lap.

You watch the crowd and you could see the faces of two white-furred goat monsters, the king and queen of all monsters, Asgore and Toriel Dreemur, the monster ambassador Frisk in their signature blue and purple striped sweater on the shoulders of a skeleton monster with red gloves and equally red scarf, holding onto their legs to keep them balanced and a blue fish monster with red hair and an eyepatch. You’d seen the King and Queen on the news--not that you watched the news or TV in general for that matter-- more often than Frisk, since apparently they were mute and still only about 8-9 years old. The skeleton and fish monster looked familiar as well, but you couldn’t place their names. however , you remembered that Boss said something about the King, the Queen, the Ambassador, the Captain of the Royal Guard, and the Royal Scientist were coming. Perhaps the skeleton or the fish monster were either the “Captain of the Royal Guard” or the “Royal Scientist”.

Your thoughts are cut off when all of a sudden something white pops it's way out of the crowd and runs straight for you and Fenrir, who stands up and runs forward to meet it. You jog after him and when you stop you see he’s sniffing at a small white pomeranian, who's also eagerly sniffing up at him. The little dog looks at you and yips running to you and circling you and pawing at your legs. 

Odd. Most other animals usually hate you and Fenrir or are scared of you both, but the little dog doesn't seem fazed at all. You feel the little dog nudge at you, but you don’t budge and then the little dog starts nudging at Fenrir who seems to comply, walking back with the little dog. The two of you share a glance and thinking on it for a moment, and not seeing the harm in it, you nod at him and he trots off with the little dog.

You left him to his own devices, he could take care of himself. You walk back into the crowd, still standing at least a head or more taller than most of them, ignoring some pointed stares at you again. You even glance sideways to see the monster ambassador looking at you, but you turn away and walk towards two booths close to your display of goods, as a deep booming voice sounds from a stage set up near the entrance of the park.

“I welcome you all to this grand celebration of the day we were freed from the Underground! Please enjoy yourselves!!” You quietly watch the crowd, as cheers (and some barking and crackling of wood? And a strong breeze) erupted, both monster and human alike. And you were swept away in the crowd until you found a way out by a lonely tree between two booths.

You stayed in the shadow of the tree between the two booths. One had little black spiders, each wearing little purple ruffled bow ties, of running a bake stand and the other a fire monster,smartly dressed in a bartender’s uniform of a white collared shirt, red bowtie, black vest, black pants and shoes, serving drinks. Neither seemed to mind but you caught the fire monster looking over at you, but he(?)quickly looked away each time you turned his way. 

You also found couple of spiders crawling on you from time to time, but each time you found one you gently took it away with your hands even if one did bite you. It had dropped a salt shaker, most likely filled with sugar, and it had rolled off into the crowd and it was nearly crushed, by a startled few people if you hadn’t scooped it up into your hands, salt shaker in your pocket. You let it down and that spider quickly scampered off of you to join the others. You put the shaker back on the booth simply returned to the tree and leaned against it, tucking your injured hand away from view. 

Everyone around was stunned that you were taking it so well so you took off your glasses and stared them down. They all quickly went about their business. You caught the fire monster “Grillby” by his nametag watching you curiously and you noticed several kids running around having a water gun/balloon fight. The kids were hitting each other as well as other people who yelled in annoyance. One of the kids aimed their gun at one of their friends who they’d cornered by Grillby’s booth and he didn’t notice because he was turned your way.

You had to move quickly to pull him from his booth before he was hit with water, even if the kid didn’t fire the gun. You grabbed his arm, not even startled by the heat he gave off. You carefully tugged him behind you as the kids ran off. You let him go as several women and teenagers yelled after the kids. They then turned their concern towards Grillby and you, but you ignored their questions of “Are you ok?” because you were flexing your hands. Your Boss was going to kill you, spider bites on one hand and you’d burned the other. Way to go ___. 

You huffed quietly and half-turned back to Grillby whose flaming head and shifted colors from red and orange to yellow and orange with flecks of blue and red and purple. He was furiously moving his hands, in what you think is sign language, but it was too fast for you to read. You tried to calm him down, moving your injured hands in a “calm down” motion, but that seemed to get him more flustered and he was starting to singe the grass. You sighed deeply and waved the concerned patrons off. 

“He’s fine. Go enjoy the rest of the booths.” you said, almost wincing at your voice low, deep, and slightly scratchy. The small shivers that went down the patrons backs didn’t go unnoticed by you.  
When they left, you felt a small tapping at your cheek and found several spiders on your shoulder holding a donut towards you. You gently took it with your, spider bitten hand, cautiously and the spiders seemed to wait for you.

You took a bite from it and you were immediately taken with the warm, soft, sweet flavor of the donut. It left a warm feeling in your chest and you ate it all in several big bites. You found that after eating it your hand didn’t itch as much and your burn didn’t sting as much. You smiled lightly at the spiders and they scuttled down your arm, which you extended back to their booth, so they could get back to work easier.

When you turned back to Grillby he was back at his booth, the grass slightly scorched, making a drink in a tall glass. When he was finished he turned back to you and handed you the drink. It was a sparkling blue at the top which turned into a bright orange by the base the colors swirled and it fizzed and sparked. You drank it down and it was pleasantly cool going down and then seemed to warm up at the end. That same warm tingling feeling in your chest and your burned hand no longer hurt.

You looked at your hands in amazement, as Grillby took the glass from you. It was amazing! You were tempted to ask what ingredients went into the food--like magic because you’re sure that’s what healed you-- but you held your tongue despite the excitement you felt. You didn’t know these monsters. Not well anyway. Grillby signed, I’m sorry to you several times and you waved him off. You were ok. You resumed your spot by the tree and the booths were soon busy again with monsters and other humans. 

You felt very uncomfortable now and slipped around the other side of the tree, but you quietly tipped both the spiders and Grillby generously for the food and drink before you left. You thought you almost heard loud barking coming from the booths and some strange laugh (Ahuhuhu~) and some yelling as you left. 

You moved through the crowd with ease and everyone gave you plenty of space, as you looked around the crowd you still saw people and monsters giving you looks even when they were eating your cakes. However, your focus on some suspicious looking people, seemingly roaming around in the crowd. They looked like ordinary, every people, all in casual clothes, but you had a feeling something was wrong with them as you passed through the crowd of people. 

They were mingled amongst the crowd, but they seemed to start moving towards one place: in the middle of the grassy area, which was now filled with monster families, the monster children were playing with the little white dog from earlier, Fenrir, Frisk and the tall skeleton in the red scarf and gloves. You could fully see him(?) now and he seemed like he was wearing some sort of armor: A full white chest plate, blue spandex, and big red boots, and his bones were covered in some sort of black body suit? skeleton-suit?...The kids and skeleton ran around playing tag and Fenrir just laid down close by, the little white dog curled up next to him.

The men and women all seemed to tuck their hands into their pockets in their jackets or pants at once and walk over and it seems you're not the only one to notice. There are some dog monsters sniffing around, 3 in armor and 2 in cloaks and one is wearing a tank top and camo pants, their ears perked and even the blue fish monster knows somethings wrong. She’s wearing a black leather jacket, green tank top, blue pants and black boots. She’s looking around at them too. You catch her eye but you keep moving.

You carefully walk over to the open grass with the kids, skeleton, and Fenrir. His eyes meet your gaze and you make a low whistle and he moves quickly with Frisk who has somehow gotten onto his back with another little yellow lizard monster kid with no visible arms. He runs towards you and you see many other monsters behind them getting up and looking on in horror and the fish woman charges towards you with glowing blue spears in her hands. You haven’t the slightest idea where she got them but you don’t have time to think as you focus on the rest of the children, some of whom had ran back to their parents while others had huddled behind the skeleton in fear and confusion.

The skeleton looks confusedly at you and one of the men takes this opportunity to lunge at him with a knife, but you all but sprint at him to reach him, but he seems to notice the guy and he swivels around with a bone in hand and knocks the knife out of the guys hands, as others start to come out of nowhere. There are kids and adults screaming, the dog monsters barking and a lot of yelling. 

Your past training and instincts kick in as you dodge another knife, grabbing the guy’s arm and throwing him over, knocking the wind out of him, running and punching another in the face as Fenrir, weaves around to get to you, Frisk and the monster child still on his back. Another lunges for them and you dash to kick him away as the children jump off of Fenrir, the skeleton immediately scoops them up and takes them away. 

Frisk locks eyes with you and they reach for you just as Fenrir jumps at another attacker behind you. The skeleton takes them back to the Queen who holds them tightly and you have a brief moment to think about how sweet it was and then you duck a punch from another guy. You give him a swift kick to the stomach and he goes down and you find Fenrir snarling over another man, who passes out.

Fenrir jumps off of him and comes to your side, both of you ready for any other attackers, but you look around at see that most of the attackers had been dealt with, lying on the ground (hopefully) unconscious, except for a few stragglers who are cowering away from the dog monsters, or two being held up by the fish monster woman before she knocked their heads together and they crumple to the ground in a heap. 

One of the men pulls a gun and you grab your knife from it’s place at your belt and dash towards the guy, who’s aiming for a short skeleton in a blue hoodie--where had he even come from? A gunshot rings out amongst the crowd, but the skeleton disappears. For a moment you see a wisp of bright blue light and then the bullet striking the ground and there’s a loud cry of “SANS!”. The skeleton from earlier draws the attention of the shooter, you see the guy aim at the skeleton’s skull, and with another burst of speed you take the skeleton down as the guy fires his gun twice, then there’s a loud yelp and a deep voice.

“get d u n k e d on.” And you get up into a low crouch by the slightly winded taller skeleton to see “Sans” holding a hand towards the guy and the guy curses, frozen in place and body outlined in blue light along with a strange heart shape hovering outside the guy’s chest. The skeleton lifts his outstretched hand and then slams his hand down towards the floor, the guy’s body following his movements by floating up and then slamming back down and he’s out.

Distracted, by the shorter skeleton you curse when you hear “NOBODY MOVE!” by a kitchen knife-wielding woman, who has said knife against the cervical vertebrae of the taller skeleton. You feel a sharp chill down your spine from the skeleton behind you and the hair on your body stands on end and the almost static pressure you feel.

“Nyeh! Human Why Are You Doing This? Violence Isn’t The Answer. Perhaps We Could Be Friends Instead?” The skeleton tries to reason. And you’re taken off guard about how...open and how much of a pacifist the skeleton is. The woman smirks evilly at his naivete and presses the knife a bit more against his vertebrae and you hear a subtle scraping sound. There’s a small whimper coming from the skeleton and you hear the harsh popping of bones from behind you.  
From behind her you could see the little white dog slowly creeping up behind her and you could have sworn the dog winked at you before leaping up and biting into the woman’s leg. 

She screamed and let go of the skeleton and in a second you saw “Sans” appear in a flash of blue light, wrap around the other skeleton and they both disappeared in another flash of blue light. The woman cursed and tried to get the small dog off of her, but you took the opportunity to tackle her to the floor and wrench the knife out of her hand and twist her arm behind her back. Your own knife pressed against the her back of neck HARD.

She stopped struggling and hissed under her breath. “I wouldn’t move if I were you.” you say dangerously in her ear. And she whimpers. There’s silence for a brief moment before cheers ring out amongst the crowd, and Fenrir comes up to stand by you, your hat in his mouth (you’d lost it and your sunglasses during the fighting) and his ears perked and he was looking at something. You look around to find police officers and paramedics as well as several police officers coming towards you. 

The next hour consisted of officers: detaining the attackers, placing them in cuffs and into the back of various police cars that had to make several trips, questions and evidence gathering, and paramedics: for those who got injured, several monsters and humans were hurt, but thankfully no one was killed, and reporters: trying to get the scoop on the news.

The woman you had pinned had long since been taken away and her knife and yours taken as evidence along with the gun and they took a picture of your shoulder as well, which you found slightly confusing until you saw that a bullet had grazed you and you didn’t actually notice the stinging until the officer pointed it out to you.

You were seen by a paramedic who simply cleaned the wound and put antiseptic, which you hissed at and bandaged you up. You were questioned by a few of the rookie officers, one of whom slightly shook as you gave your short statements. You weren’t sure if it was because of you or Fenrir, who stayed close to your side. You were a bundle of nerves once your adrenaline wore off and worry set into your bones...for the kids, for Boss, for the monsters...Were they ok? You don’t voice your concerns but Fenrir, places his face under your hand and you pet him to relax yourself.

You’re eventually given the “all clear” to leave and you take the chance before anything else happened. You placed your hat back on your head and checked your phone, which you’d kept on vibrate and in your pant’s pocket. There are several texts, missed calls, and voicemails from “Boss”, some about where you were, to call her, that she was okay (you breathed a sigh of relief at that) and several voicemails you couldn’t hear over the crowd of voices. 

You decide to listen to them later as you made your way back to the employee/volunteer tent, which was (thankfully) mostly empty, if not a bit messy from people rushing to get their things or hiding...You find your bag with your work uniform and sling it over one of your shoulders and leave the tent.

As you make your way to leave, you hear barking and loud and fast footsteps headed your way. You turn around only to jerk in surprise as a skeleton and a tiny white dog come flying at you. You dodge away and the skeleton sails past you, and the dog lands perfectly in front of Fenrir, who’d just stood there. The skeleton rolls to catch his fall and stands up. When he turns around there’s stars in his eye...sockets? **“NYEH HEH HEH!!! WOWIE FRIEND!!!”** THAT WAS AMAZING! YOU HAVE MANAGED TO DODGE THE GREAT PAPYRUS!” 

You instantly freeze up and stare at him, heart suddenly beating really fast and your face seems to heat up. You mind races, thinking back to your marks, making connections: the bones-skeleton, the font-his name,the words- he just said them to you. “Human?” the skeleton-no _Papyrus_ asked, walking towards you. You reach forward and grab him by his scarf, pulling him close and looking him over.

A bright flash of orange crosses his cheekbones in what you think is a blush and it’s sooo cute to you as he seems to sweat and at a loss for words until you hear, **“wanna have a bad time?”** and you’re pulled away from Papyrus and lifted into the air. You see a short skeleton in the blue hoodie, white-shirt, black basketball shorts, and unlaced blue high-tops. “SANS NO!!” Papyrus calls. WAIT. _Sans._ Your mind races to make the connections: the bones-another skeleton, the font- again his name, the words-he just fucking said them too. You’re suddenly slammed onto the ground with enough force to wind you and you start to black out. The last thing you hear is incomprehensible yelling and Fenrir howling before everything goes dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welp that could've gone better...ahahaha *sweats*
> 
> STAY DETERMINED.


	5. Awkward.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> so awkward. SUPER awkward. Why did i let myself write this while cringing?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everybody. it's cross and welcome back to bare bones!
> 
> thanks for the 240 kudos, 50+ bookmarks, and 2200+ hits
> 
> i apologize if you cringe.
> 
> [signing]  
> :texts:  
>  _dreaming_

_You’re certain you’re dreaming because all you see is black space around you. You think you’re somehow floating in the space and yet standing on solid ground at the same time._

_Your dreams were odd, but this was one of the stranger ones._

_Your necklace glowed brightly in the dark space and you saw something white in the distance in the dark, coming towards you and with it came a faint buzz, which turned into static and then into a lot of white noise._

_You clutch your hands over your ears and screw your eyes shut and then the noise suddenly stops and you open your eyes to a cracked white face and eerie smile._

_You jerk back and the darkness around you cracks like glass and falls away to a white space and you fall through that only to find yourself on the surface of water, but you’re not wet._

_You stand up atop the water, it ripples under your feet._

_You’ve had this dream before. You look around, nothing but empty white space, but you feel something behind you and when you turn around...it’s that dark figure from the dark space._

_It--he?--stands out amongst the stark white scenery, and endless form of shadows with a cracked mask for a face and skeletal hands with holes through the palms. His form is constantly moving, shifting, fluid..._

_The static and noise starts up again as he comes closer to you, his form shifting more than usual, lights coming on in the eyes of his mask: one blue and one orange, but his form is dissolving more and more as he moves towards you._

_You try to catch him just as he falls apart into a puddle of ooze, staining the water black, which rapidly turns thick to suck you in and not matter how much you struggle you can’t escape._

_You’re swallowed before you get the chance to scream._

You wake up with a start and immediately sit up, but that only serves to increase the headache you have, your ears buzzing with static. You press a hand to your head as it aches. Something white and fluffy, crawls up the bed and starts yipping and running around you and licking you wherever it can. It’s the Pomeranian from the park. What was he doing here?...

You pet him so he’d stop licking you and you find you’re in some kind of room, probably a guest bedroom of a house. You see Fenrir, place his head on the edge of the bed close to your hand and you pet his head. He was here too. But where exactly were you?--You pulled the blankets away and found you were still dressed in the clothes.

You sit at the edge of the bed, head down as a wave of nausea nearly overwhelms you. Fenrir sticks his head onto your lap and the small dog lays down by your side. Your pounding head eventually filtered all the memories back into your brain: the picnic, the fighting, hearing your soulmates’ words---Your thought process grinds to a halt and your face heats up at the memory. You slump, placing your elbows on your knees and a hand over your eyes as the small dog at your side whines and Fenrir makes a small gruff noise at you. 

That’s right...you’ve met your soulmates, who happen to be skeletons, named after fonts and also happen to be close to the Human-Monster Ambassador, the King and Queen, the Captain of the Royal guard, and the Royal Scientist. Your hand went from your eyes to brushing through your short spikey hair to the back of your neck, rubbing gently and breathing, calming your nerves.

And then you remembered that your Boss had called you and instantly went for your phone, which was not in your pocket. You scanned the room: you sat on a full sized bed, which was somehow big enough for you, the floor was hardwood with a small blanket on the floor (possibly for Fenrir), there was a door right in front of you and a window behind you with the blinds closed, a small desk in the corner and an empty shelf on the other, which also had large drawers, so it may also serve as a dresser. There was also a chair right next to your bed, but neither your hat or your bag wasn’t in the room. Boss was going to kill you.

You could hear talking and movement outside the room, from somewhere else in the house, you heard two distinctive loud voices the most, but from where you were couldn’t make out what they were saying. The headache and ringing in your ears made it difficult to hear, but you did notice the quick light steps of a child approaching the room.

And not a second later, the door swung open and Fenrir was up and turned around, in a slightly defensive position in front of you. The small dog eagerly leapt from the bed and ran over to Frisk, running around them as they look from you to Fenrir, who instantly relaxed when he saw them.

The two of you locked eyes for a moment--well of sorts, since their eyes were slit--and you felt your necklace flicker and pulse at them, but not only that...there was something else about this kid...

Frisk walked in and petted both Fenrir and the small dog, all smiles and some quiet laughs until they reached you. They sign, [Thank you] to you. You nod to them in acknowledgement and they smile at you before taking one of your hands in both of theirs--your hand is so large compared to theirs and tug you forward. 

You comply and stand up, but slouch over so they don’t have to strain their neck up to see you. This seems to please them as they smile wide at you and immediately let go of your hand to reach up for you. 

Oh. 

You looked to the two dogs, hoping somehow they could put their input on this. The small dog just comes up on your leg and yips and Fenrir just huffs. You look back to Frisk who’s simply smiling at you patiently, their arms still raised, but they make grabby hands at you.

You bend down slowly and pick them up by lifting them by their armpits. They immediately cling to your neck and wrap their legs around your middle. Your slightly taken aback that they seemed so attached to you. You make a face at your unintentional internal pun as you use one arm to support them. 

They beam at you and you quirk a small smile in response and that gets a small quiet giggle from them. They then point out the door and the sounds of talking can be heard and the smell of delicious cooking spurred you on as you made your way out of the room, which seemed to be down a hall. You passed several framed photos on the way down the hall, mostly of Frisk and various other monsters, and you tried your best not to let your gaze rest on the skeletons in the picture too long.

The nervous anxiety in your chest grew as you made your way down the hall. You stopped at the corner of the hall, which seemed to turn into the larger room. Fenrir and the small dog nudged your legs forward so you would move though.

Your heart pounded in your chest, but it didn’t show on your face, but Frisk patted your cheek for your attention and you looked to them and they gave you that same patient smile, which you knocked foreheads with them for. They pouted and held their forehead and puffed out their cheeks, which earned them a small laugh from you at how adorable they were. You stepped out of the hall and under an archway which opened up into a large living room, kitchen and dining room space.

The small dog started barking and running into the kitchen, which earned him several loud “NYEH!”’s. And you walked into the living room space, where the King himself and the yellow dinosaur monster in the glasses and lab coat were sitting. You could see into the kitchen, where The Queen, the taller skeleton, Papyrus--your heart skipped a beat-- and the fish monster from before were cooking(?), but it seemed latter two were busy trying to pry the Pomeranian off of Papyrus’s femur.

Frisk clutched you a little closer and you didn’t realize you had stiffened until they had tighten their hold and you immediately made yourself relax. Fenrir was watching you close and he seemed slightly agitated, growling in the direction of the kitchen defensively. 

That was slightly strange to you as he usually wasn’t defensive like that unless...you’re broken out of your internal musings by a deep slightly booming voice. “Howdy! It’s good to see that you’re awake!” the King said, his beard shifting into what you think is a smile. You scratch the back of your head in embarrassment as you probably stared straight into the kitchen and were being rude instead of greeting them. You sheepishly bow a bit at him, mindful of Frisk. He chuckles good-naturedly enough, deep and hearty. 

“You’ll have to excuse me, but there’s no need to be embarrassed. You suffered quite the fall and--oh where are my manners? I am Asgore.” He holds out a large furry hand for you to shake, acting as if nothing was wrong. You straighten up and readjust Frisk with your other arm to shake hands with him, at least he was being polite.

You also bow your head in respect, again. “ And there’s no need for that. I am only “King” in title.” The dinosaur monster is looking at your exchange, but when you catch her eye she twitches and looks away, sweating and nervous. Frisk let’s go of your neck to sign, but you don’t really see what they say. Whatever it was, you hear, “H-hi, I-i-i’m Al-alphys.” from the shy monster. She doesn’t move to offer her claw so you wave at her and she does so shyly, not meeting your eyes. 

“HUMAN!” You turned only to be hugged tightly around the waist by Papyrus, luckily he was occupying the side that Frisk wasn’t clinging to or they’d be crushed. The force of Papyrus’s hug, nearly had him head-butting you, as he pressed his bony self to you in a bone-crushing hug. Again you make a slight face masked with a small grimace of pain from the hug. A mix of feelings swirling inside you: shock, anxiety, embarrassment, fear, happiness...It was very confusing and thankfully he let go, when Fenrir growled loudly at him.

“OH SORRY HUMAN. CANINE.” He looked apologetic and fiddled with his gloved hands. You waved him off as you got much needed air back into your lungs and steadied your heartbeat. Fenrir got between you and the skeleton though and Papyrus shrinked away from him. 

You snapped your fingers twice, quick and assertive and Fenrir looked back to you and you glared at him until he relented, returning to his place at your side. You gave him a pat on the head. When you look up the fish monster is in your face--just under your chin, but still too close for comfort. She’s giving you a sharp toothy grin and her one golden eye looks straight up at you.

Fenrir growls again, but she pays him no mind as you leave a hand on his head and scratch behind his ears to calm him. “Sup punk? Name’s Undyne!” she says and sticks out a webbed hand for you. You have a feeling you should Frisk down, so you do and they seem to pick up on the mood and they lock eyes with you. Undyne doesn’t look away from you as you put Frisk down and you take her hand and she immediately tries to pull you in, and you let her. She head locks you and gives you a noogie.

“Fuhuhuhuhu~ Pap has been talking about you and being a nerd worrying about when you’d wake up!” Her scaled hands are rough on your head and don’t help the headache you have, however muted it was now. Despite this you spared a glance at the skeleton who flushed that adorable orange again and sputtering.

“Undyne.” A kind voice warns and she lets you go to rub your head while Frisk, who had been holding back Fenrir, runs over to the Queen, who has stepped out of the kitchen now had her arms crossed as Undyne gave her a nervous smile and sweated.

She turned to you and said, “Sorry” even bowing her head a bit. Fenrir grumbled from his place, but stayed put. He laid down when the Queen stepped forward though, oddly compliant. You stared at the Queen as she approached you and lifted her hand to your head and almost instantly you felt better.

“Are you alright now child? You had us worried.” You nod to her question, suddenly shy and awkward. She was shorter than you as well, maybe about an inch taller than Undyne, not counting her horns. She smiled kindly at you.

And then your stomach growled and you clutched your stomach and ducked your head fully in embarrassment. She only gave you another kind smile and gestured towards the dining table. “You must be hungry. Everyone has already had dinner, but I’ve made you some soup if you’d like.”

She heads back into the kitchen, while Frisk tugs you toward the dining table. You cast glances at Toriel, wondering how she knew you were going to wake up, and she turns to wink at you, causing you to flush.

Frisk leads you to the dining table and pulls out a chair for you, which you sit down in and when you reach out to pat your head, you hesitate--the action bringing back unpleasant feelings...and memories--nearly pulling away until Frisk takes your hands and places it on their head for you.

This startles a low chuckle from you, which Frisk smiles about happily, their cheeks turning a bit rosy as you gently pat their head. A large bowl of soup is placed in front of you and you stop petting Frisk’s head to turn and look up at Toriel, gazing at the two of you fondly. It made your heart clench in slight pain though and you felt a hand on your shoulder and squeeze it comfortingly. 

“Come now, my child, let’s let him eat in peace.” she said and Frisk took her hand and they walked back to the couch and armchairs in the living room. Fenrir laid down next to you and closed his eyes, while you eyed the soup.

\- - - -

Papyrus watched the human, shivering with excitement. A new human. An ADULT human. A new FRIEND. Papyrus wanted to rush over and talk about spaghetti and hanging out , but then he remembered what Sans did...

After the human passed out, Papyrus immediately started losing his cool, “OHMYGODSANSWHATHAVEYOUDONETOTHEHUMAN? THEYONLYHELPEDME! THEYWEREN’TATTACKINGME!! HOWCOULDYOU?!---” Frisk, Toriel, the Annoying Dog, and the human’s canine all yelling at him, or in Frisk’s case signing and stamping their feet, Dog’s annoying barking, and the human’s canine’s howling. Sans smile was frozen in place and his sockets dark. No one expected the human’s canine to suddenly leap at him and snap his jaws, but Papyrus was faster and he hauled his brother up by the armpits away from the angry canine.

“Please Human Canine!” he begged, but the canine merely took a defensive crouch and growled, ear flat and baring his teeth at his brother. He didn’t attack Papyrus though. When Undyne tried to reach out to him like she did the other dogs of the guard he snapped at her hand. 

In the end it took, Frisk and the Annoying Dog who seemed to know the canine to calm him down. Papyrus wasn’t sure what they did, but it had worked. He was still holding his brother when he heard, _**“P a p y r u s.”**_ UH OH. He shivered at the memory. He had instantly places Sans down before Toriel, who seemed to have grown several feet or maybe Sans shrunk? In any case it was terrifying. He had NEVER seen her Majesty so upset before.

She took Sans away for a moment and when she came back she held him by the hood, he looked thoroughly traumatized and no one dared asked what happened (smart).

Even if his brother was rightly punished for his actions, Papyrus couldn’t help but feel sympathy for his brother. He was always more mistrustful of humans, even more so than Undyne! And he knew Sans was trying to protect him, but Papyrus was a big skeleton, he could take care of himself.

Toriel gave orders for all of them to leave before someone saw what Sans had done and to take the human with them, Papyrus had volunteered to carry the human while his Majesty brought around the car. They certainly were a large human though, and he thought he was tall! Their canine lightly growled at him for touch him, but he simply patted his head and said in a calm voice, “Do Not Worry Canine. I, The Great Papyrus, Promise Your Human Will Be Safe.” 

He locked sockets with the golden eyes of the canine and he relented so Papyrus quickly scooped them up and Sans and they all made their way to the car to go home.

The rest of the night was mostly him watching his brother, who was unresponsive to anything, only going to his room and locking the door and Papyrus on guard duty outside of it, when all of them knew he could teleport if he wanted to.

Toriel and Frisk put the human in the guest room, with accommodations for their canine, who wouldn’t let ANYONE in but Frisk or her Majestyl. Sometimes Undyne and Papyrus would sit outside the door and chat, when she’d find him there. Asgore and Alphys kept their distance, but Alphys put in her medical expertise, most of which he didn’t really understand, but he heard her and her majesty talking about how their ribs were “bruised” and Toriel had to heal some of it she said it was a miracle none of their bones were broken.

Papyrus, actually panicked over that and Toriel and Undyne had to get him to calm down with promises of spaghetti and some Golden Flower Tea from his Majesty. That was yesterday though and now they were awake! Frisk, seemed to like them too and they usually always trusted Frisk’s good judgement.

They couldn’t be a bad human, after they had saved The GREAT Papyrus, and Frisk, their tiny human, his best friend!! 

He’s brought back when he sees the serious expression on her Majesty’s face as she turned away from the human. And...those uncomfortable shivers are back. Undyne takes him by the hand and when he tries to make a sound, she covers his mouth with a hand and they all quietly retreat back to the stairs and go up, he cast glances at the human, but they’re too engrossed in eating to notice them leaving nor his brother appear to the side of him and they lock eyes before he’s gone again and they’re up on the second floor when he sees them look up from their food.

He’s pulled into his room and Toriel softly closes the door. The mood in the room is tense. Undyne looks around the room. “Pap? Didn’t you have the human’s stuff? Where’d you put it?” she asked while looking around his closet and under his bed and his desk and shelves.

Alphys just sat down on his bed and looked at her phone. Frisk came up to him and signed, [Why are we hiding?] Papyrus picks them up and says, “I Don’t Know Tiny Human. Your Maje--” “Toriel, Papyrus. Please call me Toriel.” she says, as she and Asgore stood by the door.

“Why Are We in My Room?” he asks.

“We have decided to give the human some time to himself and to leave if he wishes, but we’ll need his things--” “I can’t find them!” Undyne says.

“WHAT?!” is the collective response

\- - - -

The soup smelled delicious and it was steaming still. You took the spoon and dug in, careful not to slurp. It spread a warm, comforting feeling throughout your body, easing tension you didn’t know you had and chasing away the depressing thoughts and echoing static in your head. It almost brought you to tears, but you held them back.

You feel a shiver down your spine and you think you see something blue at the corner of your eye and you instantly look up from your soup bowl and scan around, but there’s nothing there. Fenrir, growls lowly and dangerously at your side from his place on the floor. The cold creeping feeling down your spine is gone with more spoonfuls of the soup, until you’ve emptied the bowl, paying no mind to the eyes or rather eye sockets looking at you.

You got up and went into the kitchen, finding it strangely quiet in the living room, as you place your bowl into the sink. You go out to find that while you were eating, everyone but Fenrir and the small dog had left the space. The tiny dog was sitting by the coffee table with your bag, hat, and phone on it and he was chewing on a bone.

. . .wait. . . What?!

You walked over to the table and picked up your phone, all your messages had been listened to and someone made a call to “Boss” while you were unconscious. You were not ok with that. Your bag and work clothes don’t look looked through, everything in it’s place. Your wallet still has your money and cards and pictures, hidden in a “secret” pocket in the bag. You tuck your hat into the bag. You have a thought to just take your shoes, which are by the front door(somehow), and leave. But...someone had put your things in the living room, probably expecting you to go, that was probably also the reason why nobody was in the room.

They were giving you space, being polite, they’d told you their names, they’d fed and cared for you...you let out a loud sigh and turned to Dog, innocently chewing on his bone. His small black eyes held a smug look somehow over his bone, which you took from him as well. A lightbulb going off in your head, as you looked at it...it was exactly the same bone that Fenrir had been bring home. 

THAT was how Fenrir and the dog knew each other. THAT was why you had so many bones in your house. You hefted the bone in your hand. THIS was probably one of Papyrus’s bones...that was kinda freaky actually...The dog yipped and twirled for it, without command.

“Sit.” you said, lowly and you had the urge to flinch at your own voice. It obeyed.

“Down.” He complied.

“Speak” He barked and you handed him the bone and he immediately resumed chewing on it.

You sat down on the couch and Fenrir came up to you when you whistled for him. You place both hands on either side of his face and speak softly at him. “You’re too smart for your own good. You knew didn’t you?” His gold eyes just stare back into yours and he presses his face against your cheek in a kind of sign of affection. 

“Excuse me?” Toriel said from the stairs, you hadn’t noticed her walk down. You both looked at her. “I’m sorry, child. We-we thought you’d like privacy.” she said, slightly taken aback that you were still here.

You stood from the couch, looking around to see if the others were around the corner. You start typing in your phone, as fast as your fingers could type (or swipe-text). The tension in the room was uncomfortable.

:Thank you very much for taking care of me. Please excuse me. I’m not very comfortable using my voice. It’s is nothing against you. And I...understand that i’m human, much more an adult human in the house of the King and Queen of All Monsters, the Ambassador and your family. I can understand why bringing me here was a risk to you and your family.:

She read this and her face turned serious, but you started typing again. :I do not know who had my things, but it appears one of you has gone through my phone and possibly my bag. I’m not very comfortable with this. No, I’m not going to tell anyone what happened. No i’m not going to report this to anyone. No I don’t expect you to believe me or trust me.:

She looks genuinely surprised and slightly upset.

You type again, but watch her step towards you more. :I do wish to know who talked to my Boss though.: You looked directly at her and she breathes. “I do not know. I-I must apologize I didn’t know that---” you shook your head. You packed up your things into your bag.

:Nevermind. I can just ask my Boss, if that’s alright?: Her brows furrowed a little, but said, “Yes, perhaps your boss could tell you more.” the tension was back a little.

:Despite what has happened, you have treated me like a guest and I will be a proper guest and not overstay my welcome: You show her the message and let her finish reading it before heading towards the door and putting your shoes on. Fenrir following you and the small dog whining a bit at you.

She follows slowly behind you to let you out and you catch a glimpse of Frisk, Papyrus, Undyne, Asgore and Frisk, peeking at you from the upper floor and a flash of blue light around one of the corners.

:I have not properly introduced myself have I? My name is - - - - -. - - - - - - - - - - .: you stick your hand out and she grasps it in both of hers, a troubled expression on her face: an uneasy smile. You take back your hand gently and type out one more long message.

:Thank you once again for having me. And don’t be upset or mad at your skeleton friend in the blue hoodie--Sans was it?--I can sympathize with what he must’ve been thinking while attacking me. I don’t blame him for it. Can you tell him that? And uh tell his brother Papyrus that i have some bones of his? Your dog has been bringing them to my house somehow and my dog loves them and all but they’re a lot of bones...:

She reads it and starts laughing. “Oh-oh heavens! Papyrus has been wondering where Dog keeps hiding the bones he steals and he’s been giving them to your dog?” You nod, scratching your head and how odd this situation was.

“May I?” she gestures to your phone with a smile and you hand it to her and she fiddles with it and gives it back to you.

_Toriel Dreemur (XXX)XXX-XXXX_

She's put her number in your phone. You look up at her incredulously. “You’ll have to forgive us - - - - - for Sans’s behavior and for our actions. Please give me a call or text me should you wish to visit us.” She leans up to give you a hug and whisper in your ear, “You’re a good soul, - - - - -. Please don’t hesitate to contact me and thank you so very much for saving Papyrus and Frisk.”

She’s warm and soft and smells of butterscotch cinnamon and flowers. You nod and she releases you. She also bends down to pet Fenrir on the head. “You have a good human companion. You’re very lucky.” He huffs in response.

You open the door and step out into the afternoon sunset, waving to Toriel until she closes the door and you start walking down the street until you couldn’t see the house anymore. You then collapsed into a squat on the sidewalk and breathed. That was one of the most tense and awkward afternoons you’d had in a long time and Fenri sat next to you and leaned into your shoulder and side.

“Thanks, boy.” you rub your face suddenly tired. “Let’s go home.” He gruffs in response and you both stand up to start walking. You pull out your phone though and dial your boss as you walk, she picks up on the first ring.

 **“- - - - -. Tell me everything.”** she commanded. You laughed as you walked down the block...from either the way your boss was yelling into her phone and ranting or from the fact that there was a certain skeleton in a blue hoodie trying to be stealthy.

Well...you could humor both of them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *facepalms* how was it?...(@danteloyal so remember your comment about how there was a recurring pattern? it's there but i'm twisting it!)
> 
> leave me comments and feedback PLS!
> 
> ALSO HELP!!!! you've probably noticed that this as well as the rest of my stories are part of series, well i have some questions for you:
> 
> -should i keep to these fics and not juggle more?  
> -should i go for the installments?  
> -what do you guys want to see?
> 
> Please tell me in the comments!


	6. “In the (Dog) House”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> going home..you're still in trouble though, maybe a peace offering will help?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting this too all of my stories but I apologize for the lack of updates I will not go into detail but it has been busy as of late around my house and on top of that I injured myself and was unable to write do to the injury (nothing serious don't worry) and I put off posting chapters just to just update them all at once as an UNBIRTHDAY GIFT to my Readers for all their support and love and patience. :) <3
> 
> Thank you guys for all of your 300+kudos, 60+bookmarks, and 3070+hits!!!!
> 
> Enjoy PART 4 of your UnBirthday Gift!!

Boss is at your door. You had said you’d tell her told her everything that had happened when you got home, fully aware you were being watched until you made it out of sight of the house. Boss still yelling in your ear, but you weren’t paying attention until she said, “--I’m coming over. TONIGHT. Don’t bother with the shop today. I’ll just bring you a list for the work you’ll be doing. Be home when I get there.” and she hung up. 

You had decided to make some stops by the local grocery store and bought ingredients for spaghetti, as well as carrots, blueberries, and other fruits and vegetables you were low on at home. Fenrir even helped carry a bag in his teeth on the way home.

When you got home, you immediately set to work and were in the process of pouring the batter into a pan when she’d shown up. She was clearly upset at you, and she’s changed out of her work clothes. She’s wearing her jeans, tank top, and a loose black hoodie. Her soulmark in full view, words wrapped around her neck like a collar. She hadn’t bothered to cover it up--you tense your hand on the door handle before you let her into your house.

She stepped in and sat on your couch, demanding an explanation. You tell her everything that happened as you worked. It calmed your nerves a bit as she was literally drilling holes into you with her eyes. While the cake baked, you worked on making the blueberry whipped cream filling and making the icing for the decorations. It was going to be a carrot shortcake with blueberry-whipped cream filling.

When you finished your tale a tense silence fell over the room, as she processed the information. It’s quiet long enough for the cake to be finished, cut and for you to start filling it with the cream, and once that’s done you start icing it. She breaks the silence though, nearly causing you to drop the icing spatula you were using. “- - - - -. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUDGE?!” she says. You don’t reply, only slicing a piece of the unfinished cake and offering her a piece of it. 

She huffs, but takes it anyway. You know that she has a weakness for the cakes you made. She’ll vent at you a little longer before digging in. “I can’t believe you, - - - - -. You’ve met your soulmates...and you walked away. LITERALLY. Well, I guess I can understand why, cuz one of them clearly attacked you and trust me I am NOT happy about that! That skeleton will pay for that--the short one right?--But back to what I was saying...you actually got to meet them!” You simply shake your head at her.

She continues onto her own rant, “If I ever meet my soulmate we are going to--to--You know what I mean!! But then I’m probably never going to even meet my soulmate! My soulmark says, “ **You smell sweet.** ” Who even SAYS that?!---” Somehow her frustration over you has turned to anger over her soulmark...again.

You knew she was sensitive about it, despite her happy-go lucky and stubborn nature. You continue to listen to her, casting glances at her every so often. You noted the tears coming down her face, as she hastily wiped them away and Fenrir, who had been silently laying by her feet on the floor between the couch and coffee table, locked eyes with you before jumping up on the couch next to her and placing his head in her lap. She continued muttering to herself as she petted him.

She takes a deep breath and then continues.

“--And then there’s YOU. - - - - -, you’re soulmates are SKELETONS. Not just any skeletons, but friends to all of the Underground’s top authorities AND the ambassador. That’s amazing. They found you. Sure it took them awhile, since they were sealed Underground...but they made it. How could you just walk away?” She turns to you, a sad confused look on her face.

“How could they just let you go? Just like that? You’re their soulmate. You’re supposed to be together. Why would they have let you leave?” You don’t answer and prepare a piping bag so you can decorate the cake. When you turn back she’s still staring at you, searching your face.

She knows you won’t really answer her. “...Why didn’t you tell them?” She falls silent as you pause you’re icing of the cake to shake your head again before getting back to work. “You’re not going to say anything are you?” she says. You say nothing and continue icing the cake. She scoffs. “Why do you do this to yourself - - - - -?” she murmurs. 

She takes a bite of her cake and chews. “It sucks.” You know she’s trying to put up a front because despite what she says she’s still eating the cake. There’s a silence fall upon the room as you get to piping on flowers. You hear both her and Fenrir get up off the couch, the placing of her plate on the coffee table and her approaching footsteps before she slips her arms around your waist in a hug. You pause in your work.

“You’re a hopeless guy, - - - - -.” She says, pressing her cheek into the middle of your back. You nod, patting her arms. Fenrir then walks up to you both. Boss immediately kneels down to him and starts rubbing the fur around his neck and head. “You agree with me right, Fen? - - - - - is a big hopeless softy.” Fenrir huffs in her face.

You smile crookedly at them both, as they turn to look at you innocently. Then Boss’s phone rings. She picks it up with a confused look on her face. “Hello?” She stands up a troubled expression on her face. “How DARE you call me! You got some nerve---” And you turn yourself towards her in worry but she holds up a hand at you. Her face becomes troubled as she listens to whoever’s speaking to her. “I _understand_ you’re a glorified JERKWAD who couldn’t give two bloody shads about---!! You know what?! Just go ahead and SUCK it, you pansy!” she hangs up.

She gets up off the floor looks at the cake. “Any more where that care from?” she says pointing to it. You nod, knowing better than to ask, and gesture for her to sit back down on the couch. Fenrir pushes on the back of her legs until she complies and he climbs back up and lays on her lap so she stays there. 

You go back to piping the cake’s flowers and then changes nozzles to pipe words onto the sides of the cake and make a border for it. Boss has gone back to muttering and petting Fenrir again so she doesn’t notice much as you wrap and box the cake with one of the many collapsed shop cake boxes you kept in one of the cabinets of your kitchen on the occasions you work from home.

It isn’t until you’re walking towards her, box in hand that she understands what’s going on. “For me?” she asks anyway. You nod. She takes the box with a flattered smile and a slight blush on her cheeks. “Aww, - - - - -...thanks, but what about...?” You quirk an eyebrow at her and tilt your head smirking a bit at her.

She flushes in embarrassment. “Oh...right..Forgot.” She digs into her hoodie pockets and produces a short list of your for the next few weeks: 1) deliveries: mostly parties some home deliveries and other picnics or bowling alleys, one at a pool, one at the local university, one or two wedding cakes, and 2) pastries: mostly of the cakes that you’re delivering to the parties and the pies, tarts, cupcakes, etc. at the shop

Your Boss wasn’t giving you much slack this time. When you look back at her from the list she’s giving you a challenging smile. “Think you can handle it?” she says. You nod and she slaps your arm. “Great! Now i need to get going. I’ll see you tomorrow, ok?” You nod and see her to the door, Fenrir following behind.

You open the door and she turns back to you as she walks out. “I’ll bring you something else next time.” She says holding the box up. You nod down at her and she bends over to pet Fenrir. “Watch out for - - - - -, ok Fen?” He closes his eyes as she pets his fur and beckons you down so you do and she plants a quick kiss to your cheek, startling you as she giggles and runs off to her car. You huff a bit holding your cheek in embarrassment, but then you hear Fenrir growl lowly beside you, half way into a crouch and heckles raised.

When you turn towards where he’s looking you catch a brief glimpse of a faint blue light in the bushes of the neighbor’s yard before it’s gone. Seems he’s still following you. You wonder how long he’s been there and how much he’s seen. Fenrir, relaxes a bit, but keeps his gaze firmly on the bushes.

You pet his head gently to get his attention and he looks up to you as you nod your head towards the inside of the house. Fenrir huffs, but complies. In the corner of your eye you see another brief blue flash and you and Fenrir stare off, as he too catches it, fur raised and gold eyes flashing. “Fenrir.” you call his name and he grumbles before going back inside.

You watch as he goes back inside and you cast one more look towards the bushes, fully aware you’re being watched and then you turn away and step back into your house, closing the door behind you. Your heart is pounding a bit faster in your chest and a full blush is burning your cheeks from embarrassment, and you press your back to the door.

Fenrir comes up to you and nudges your hand and you slump down the door and sit crouched down in front of your door, steaming a bit and breathing. Fenrir nuzzles your head and you pet him in thanks before pulling your phone from inside your pants pocket and pulling up Toriel’s contact info.

It hadn’t been a full day and you didn’t know what to do. You didn’t think he’d follow you all the way home--well no you had suspected he might, but hoped that he wouldn’t, but he has. You deeply sigh. What now then? You look at your phone, hoping for an answer...

But none came.

\- - - -

Sans has been following you since you left the house, and had received several calls and messages since, mostly from Papyrus. He’ll probably be scolded when he gets back but there’s something about this human...not just their fighting skills, that bothers him. He follows them as they walk to the local grocery store, their dog (hellhound-wolf) sat outside obediently, awaiting his master’s return and even carried one of the bag for them.

He teleported around following after them, doing his best not to be seen by any human or monster they passed. They came to a simple one floor house about an hour of walking later. A simple neighborhood a bit close to the mountain, mostly occupied by monsters and a few older humans and young couples.

He hid amongst the bushes of a house across the street from them and watched them enter the house, and for a moment his dog seemed to look at him before entering the house behind them. And there Sans stayed.

He stayed there for so long he almost fell asleep, until he heard a car come by and it parked close to the house and an angry looking woman stepped out clad in jean, tank top and black hoodie. Her hair blowing past her with how quick she marched towards the house and knocked on the door. Sans noted a strange discoloration around her neck--a necklace? Choker? 

The human opened the door for the woman, he had a serious look on his face. He let her in and closed the door. Something about that situation also rubbed him the wrong way. Was that his girlfriend? His “boss”? Was he into that kind of thing?--WOAH. Yeah not going to think about that again. 

He wondered what he’d done to piss her off. He also noted that the human still wore the arm sleeves that extended from his wrists to his elbows, did he wear those at home too? Why?...Sans thought took a darker turn, did--did he cut? It was possible. He wasn’t a very expressive human, but he was polite with Tori...and whatever he said certainly impressed her on that phone of his.

He’d even called his “Boss” using his phone, which he had taken along with the guy’s bag.

_“- - - - -?! Where ARE you? I’ve been so worried--” The voice on the end of the line sounded fairly young, and frantic and she just went on and on about what happened._

_“uh...” She immediately shut up and then he heard, “You’re not - - - - -. **Who the HELL are you?!** ” the voice had gone from frantic to stone-cold murderous and Sans had to repress a shiver. “If you’ve done something to him I will personally send you to hell you--”_

_“look lady i haven’t done anything to ‘im. ‘e’s fine. sleepin’.” he answered._

_“Where?” she sounded suspicious still._

_“none of ya business, lady.” he was irritated. “he’ll call ya when ‘e wakes up. Also don’t tell ‘im i called ya or you’re going to have a b a d t i m e, got it?” he hung up after that._

He couldn’t look through the bag as the others came looking for him, but he was able to slip the phone back in and hide the stuff under his blanket before they caught him.

He was probably going to be chewed out by their “Boss” or whoever she was, but he had to know, luckily he’d memorized her number and dialed it. “Hello?” came her confused answer. “uh..hey it’s--” “How DARE you call me! You got some nerve---” “look lady. You don’t seem to understa--” “I _understand_ you’re a glorified JERKWAD who couldn’t give two bloody shads about---!! You know what?! Just go ahead and SUCK it, you pansy!” And she hangs up, leaving Sans to almost destroy his phone in the process of his anger. Then he notices how many calls and texts he’s missed from Papyrus and a single text from Toriel.

Oh boy he was in for a bad time when he got home. He checks the message.

 _Goat Mom_ -:Dear Sans, Papyrus is worried that you have not been answering your phone. And I know you have good intentions, but following the human will not get you the answer you might want if you don’t talk to them. I have been asked to pass you a message from him as well. He said that he is not upset or angry with you for what you did and that he understands why you had done it. He doesn’t blame you, Sans. He is a good soul. Find it in yours to see it. Oh and we are going to talk when you return. Sincerely, Toriel:

What? Was that what they were talking about with Toriel over their phone?...He was broken out of his thoughts by the door to his house opening and the woman from before stepping out, box in hand. “I’ll bring you something else next time.” she says and then down to his dog, “Watch out for - - - - - for me, ok Fen?” The dog doesn’t reply and - - - - - just watches their exchange and then the woman beckons him down and places a kiss to his cheek. Sans froze and he stood frozen, an unsettling feeling sinking into his soul as the woman turned around and made her way to her car and driving away, waving back at them both as she disappeared.

Sans hadn’t noticed his left eye was flashing blue until he heard a low growl and that - - - - - had turned in his direction and he almost swore that their eyes locked for a split second before Sans shortcutted to the alleyway next to Grillby’s. He startled a cat and it ran off down the alley. Then he instantly reeled at what he was doing. Why was he running?

He shortcutted back into the bushes to - - - - - and their dog “Fen” having a staring contest, and he saw his lips move--so he COULD speak... Then the dog walked inside and the human turned and closed the door behind them, not looking back. He doesn’t know why but he shortcuts to his front door. There’s a sweet smell tickling at his nasal bone as he presses a hand to the door. He hears sliding on the other side and a faint but audible sigh.

Sans had half a mind to knock, but decided against it. Instead he shortcuts back into his room, with more questions and doubts then when he had left it. What was it about that human? What was so different about them compared to the others? That they had a sense of empathy? Kindess? There were other humans like that. What made him so special?...He unconsciously rubs his left radius in thought.

Then the door to his room slams open and there’s a blur of white and red as Papyrus jumps at him,tackling onto his bed and hugging him fiercely while firing off faster than Sans has ever heard him speak.

“BROTHERWHEREHAVEYOUBEENIHAVEBEENCALLINGYOUFORHOURSANDCHECKINGYOURROOMANDCALLINGYOURWORKANDGRILLBYANDNOONEKNEWWHEREYOUWEWEREANDI--WEWEREWORRIEDAND--AND--” Papyrus was tearing up and Sans felt instantly guilty. He hugged Papyrus back and rubbed his skull, tapping the top with his teeth.

“sorry bro just had to take care of something. no big deal.” 

Papyrus huffs in his face. “OF COURSE IT’S A BIG DEAL SANS!!...I Don’t Have Shortcuts Like You Do Lazybones And You Can So Easily Just Disappear Through Your Space-Time Shenangins And Leave Me Behind--” “woah woah slow down pap. ya really believe that?” “W-well No But Like Today You Can Simply Just Disappear And Well...”

Sans sighs and hugs his brother close. “ok ok i got it. ‘m sorry pap. I didn’t mean to worry ya. And i promised ya didn’t i? and ya know i don’t like making promises,” he said. “Nyeh Heh Heh. Yes I Know And I Forgive You Sans.” Sans smiled as Papyrus flopped down onto his lap. He rubbed his skull affectionately as Papyrus kept a firm hold around his middle. “thanks bro. ya’re the coolest.”

“Umm Sans?” “yea?” “As Much As I Like Being With You Like When We Were Babybones, Her Majesty Also Wished to Speak With You.” Sans froze. “Oh yea?” he said, voice stiff and body tense. Papyrus nodded and sat up with a serious expression.

“It Is Rude To Keep Her Majesty Waiting.” He says as he scoops Sans up in his arms and starts calling for Toriel, “OH YOUR MAJESTY SANS HAS RETURNED!!” And sans simply lays there in his brothers arm, resigned to his fate and now that he thinks about it he’s kinda tired...

“SANS DON’T GO TO SLEEP!!” “sorry bro but i’m bone-tired right now.” “SANS NO PUNS!” “aww come one bro that didn’t tickle your funny bone?” “SSAAANNNSS!!” “ya’re smiling.” “I AM AND I HATE IT.”

The ensuing lecture and PUNishment is completely worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oooh somebody's in trouble~ and hey thrown in bits of fluffy friendship and brotherly love cuz why the F not?! *sweatdrop*
> 
> Please leave me comments and feedback. I appreciate it.


	7. “Can’t have your cake and eat it too”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> work work work,---spiders...again?---work, skeleton, work--wait WHAT?!-- *panic*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM TRASH.  
> THIS WAS DONE FOREVER AGO AND I DIDN'T POST IT, LIKE I THOUGHT IT DID.  
> THAT IS COMPLETELY MY FAULT.
> 
> however...most of my chapter aren't finished for updates like they should've months ago and i apologize.  
> these are not over. NOPE. I may be busy with projects and work but I will update these, if not more sporadically than normal because i have some holidays to catch up on, so expect those.
> 
> Thank you for your patience and support( if i haven't exhausted those by now)

You made your rounds during the next week, baking up a storm of pies, tarts, cupcakes, cookies, cakes, a little bit of everything. You spent most of your time at the shop, even bringing a sleeping bag and other essentials, when you’d stayed overnight. You had to leave Fen in the other room while you worked the kitchen though. 

You did this on occasion when work piled up you practically lived at the shop, but you always managed to slip out of the shop by the time the morning shift came at 6 a.m. You almost had gotten the cops called on you several times, but Boss managed to save you at the last moment. She usually came in with the 6 a.m. shift anyways. 

Over the past week or so, however, she...she had been somewhat off as of late. She hardly left her office at work when you came for work, usually she’d greet you and she’d talk at you while you worked, or if you popped into her office because she needed to talk to you, she seemed to be spacing out instead of typing at her computer. But she got like that during sometimes when it was busy, particularly during holidays. You left her to it, since she didn’t really inform you of anything major unless it was necessary. The shop seemed to be preparing for Halloween anyway.

Perhaps that was why you had so much delivery work, but then again maybe not. You had parties, weddings, business meetings. You probably still looked like a guy in costume in your “uniform”, which consisted of a black shirt with the shop’s logo and mascot on the front and the hat, with the shop’s name across the strapped back and the shop’s logo on the front. However, security guards at the places you frequented just took one look at you and waved you in. Luckily, if you didn’t need to personally deliver the boxes of pastries, other staff took the goods in.

Today would be your last day of “make-up-work-because- you-worried-your-Boss”, you’d already loaded the van for your first delivery and contemplated the route to take as you drove around. 

You had a delivery for the local University, a department party by the looks of the donuts, muffins, croissants, cupcakes, and various breads, a cake for a birthday party, a few smaller cakes for an apartment delivery, and strangely enough a large delivery that contained a bit of everything from the shop to...another shop? “Muffet’s”. It was a monster bakery, run by a spider monster.

Why boss accepted the order is beyond you, but she had been rubbing at her neck more often, at her soulmark. A nervous habit she picked up when she was in deep thought or something was troubling her--you shook your head, trying to clear your thoughts. Knowing Boss, she’d tell you when she was ready. You didn’t think anymore of it as you pulled up to the university, parked the car in 20 minute parking and got the boxes out of the truck. Someone apparently didn’t put the trolley back though so you’ll have to bring everything in by hand. You heft 6 boxes, 3 in either arm and made ur way to the gates. The security guys knew you by now and waved you in.

You made your way through the campus, dodging students on their way to class, human and monster alike. You ignore their stares as you make your way to the building with the Science Department. The receptionist at the desk, a blue-furred bunny monster, has to open the door for you since your hands are full, and you duck inside with the boxes. You nod in thanks to the receptionist and go straight for the elevator for the 5th floor. 

A green-scaled lizard monster is there to meet you in the hall. You know her only as Sariah. She smiles kindly at you and walks up to you, her claws making light scraping sounds on the tiled floor. “Mr. - - - - -! I thought you’d never show up!” You give her a small half-smile and she takes a few boxes from your hands. She stands at chest level with you and has to crane her neck to look up at you.

She slides her ID to let you into the office and once again you duck inside, making your way to a lone table on the wall to your left, placing down all the boxes. You ignore the stares from both monsters and humans at the cubicles. You hear two sets of scraping scales and then a very sharp intake of breath behind you.

You turn around and Sariah is there with Alphys. The two of you stare each other down with wide eyes. “--Alphys, this is the human I was talking about. Mr. - - - - -, this is Alphys our former Royal Scientist, and the university’s newest professor. She’s teaching a class on--” She continued on and Alphys never looked away from you, fidgeting and sweating under your gaze.

You tip your hat at her and wave, lightly and she waves back hesitantly. You turn your attention back to Sariah, very much aware of Alphys’s stares, as she gasps, “Oh goodness! I’m sorry Mr. - - - - -. We’re keeping you from your work aren’t we? Oh dear...I’m sorry. You know how i carry on.” She clutches her claws over her mouth in dismay. You shake your head and a hand in a dismissive gesture.

You do however, point at the door. “Of course of course, hurry dear.” You feel Alphys’s stare at your back as you exit the office, muffled talking behind the door as you get to the stairs and take them 3 at a time down to the ground floor. Your thoughts fly around with your newfound nervous energy. Alphys knows. She knows! You stop on a step and rest against the wall, punching the wall lightly.

If she knew, she may tell the others...The thought of the skeleton brothers knowing about your job had you putting a bit too much pressure on your fist on the wall and you heard it crack and creak. A painful sting in your chest, an empty hollowness in your heart. You immediately get off the wall and set a fast pace back to your truck. As much work as Boss was putting you under, it helped curb your thoughts away from the thought of your soulmates...Once you get to your truck you heave a deep breath and start the engine. 

\- - - -

Alphys breathes once the door closes behind - - - - -. She also visibly slumps to the floor and sweats.

“Alphys? What’s wrong?” Sariah is by her side, looking her over worriedly, but a realization seems to dawn on her. “Ah. Don’t worry. Mr. - - - - - is very nice, despite the way he looks.” She stared at her, slowly relaxing, but not quite believing her. “He’s intimidating, isn’t he? Big, tall, strong...He’s actually very sweet. He works at a pastry shop. What kind of human works at a pastry shop and is not a sweetheart?” She says, helping Alphys into a chair and then fetching her a muffin and some water.

“I was much like you when he first came here. Dorothy--the professor before you, adored the pastries from Sweet Dream. She was very friendly with him too. She saw him like a grandson she never had, poor dear. When she retired the entire office pitched in for one of those specialty cakes for her--and i’m rambling. Sorry Alphys, you know how I carry on...just try honey.” She pats Alphys’s shoulder before moving away to get her own pastries.

Alphys had listened to her spiel, and she looked at the muffin in her hand. She sniffed it, it was a banana nut muffin. She bit into it and she was immediately encased in the warm sweet taste of it. It didn’t have magic in it like Muffet’s pastries did, but this was as close to monster food as human food got.

She took out her phone and took a picture of the muffin, and posted it to the Undernet, with a caption reading: “A banana-nut muffin from Sweet Dream! Oishii desu~" She even got up to take a picture of the spread, laid out of the table. She posted that two, while she ate the muffin. That caption read: “Sweets from a Sweet Dream. I must be dreaming they taste so good!!!” Then a whole slew of emojis of hearts cakes and fluffy clouds.

**CoolSkeleton95: WOWIE, BUT DOCTOR ALPHYS REMEMBER NOT TO EAT TO MANY. ALL THE SUGAR ISN’T GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH.**

**StrongFish:Aww babe no fair! Save me some!!**

**FriskyBits: Those aren’t from Muffets?**

**KingFluffyBuns: Those looks wonderful. I wonder how they would go with tea?**

**GoatMom: Someone is having a sweet time.**

**bone2bpunny: tori stop stealing my lines. nice tho alph. they look pastry good, but a dentist's nightmare.**

**COOLSKELETON95: UGGHHH YOUR MAJESTY, SANS NO!!**

She begins typing out responses, but pauses...then she continues to type out her responses, sending them.

She then opens a text to Toriel.

\- - - -

For the rest of your deliveries, you were on autopilot, doing your job efficiently and quickly like a robot. You went to the apartment of some young girl and dropped off her box of mini-cakes and she gave you a tip, which you accepted with a tip of your hat before leaving. The birthday cake was delivered to a quaint one story house, around the same neighborhood where--

You had to carry the cake in since most of the monsters in the house were actually quite small, barely came to your knees. They were cute...but they were also afraid...most of them hid away from you. The few bigger “adults”, you think, were watching you cautiously. It was awkwardly tense and getting quieter as you lingered.

You sat the cake down on the table by a small fairy-ghost monster of some sort? And then made your leave, but you’re legs were ran into by a small mouse monster in a scarf and beanie? They had tripped over it. You heard several gasps, but you focused on the child. They were slightly disoriented and you very slowly, gently, squatted down and helped them up, rearranging their scarf into a bow-like tie.

They shook themselves out of it and you unconsciously place a hand on their head and rub gently, muttering under your breath. When you stood up they were looking up at you with tiny little stars in their round black eyes. You nod at your handy work and then head out the door.

“W-wait! M-Mister Human!” A tiny voice called out and you looked back at the little mouse in the doorway with a larger mouse behind them, probably their mother. “T-thank you!” they squeaked, giving you a bright happy smile. You tipped up your hat and smile back, waving.

You get back in your truck and head to your last delivery, waving to the kid until you couldn’t see them anymore.

Back in your truck, you make your way to your final destination, which is actually only 10 minutes away from where you were currently, but almost on the other side of town from Sweet Dream...In the so called, “Monster District”. It’s where most if not all the monsters who set up businesses, set up shop. It was formerly a bunch of old, run-down buildings, a somewhat shady part of Ebbot.

However, within several months of being free and thanks to negotiations between the King, Queen, and the Ambassador, not to mention the copious amount of gold and gems monsters used as currency, they were able to make that particular section of town a bustling place for business. Any extra space in the area was also used for temporary housing for monsters fresh from the Underground.

You had actually never been to this section of town more than once or twice while looking for exotic ingredients for cakes, you liked to experiment now and then. However, the Monster District seemed virtually human free and you got uncomfortable looks the last few times you were there. Fenrir had also almost gotten into a fight with some monster named, “Jerry”. The memory makes your face scrunch up. You had almost been tempted to let Fenrir attack, but thankfully with some well placed whistles and sharp glares. Jerry eventually wandered off with a quick, “Whatever”.

And that was nearly a year ago, when the place was still new. You haven’t had a reason to visit since then with work and all. Driving through the streets, you saw that they were, compared to the main city, much cleaner. You passed small stores, all seemed to have particular colors, which clashed but seemed to go well anyway: vibrant purples of all shades, warm oranges and browns, cool blues and greens, plain whites and shades of gray, vibrant oranges, reds and deep burgundies, and some shining silver, black and pink.

Then you came to your destination, “Muffet’s”. It’s quite cute, actually, the store a pastel purple and magenta and accented with...spider webs?... You get out the truck and go to the back, actually retrieving the trolley you rarely ever used, except for big deliveries like this. You packed on some of the boxes, gently and carefully.

You rolled it up to the door and you’re surprised to find the door open for you. This sets off some warning signals in your head, but a job’s a job. You carefully step into the shop...stopping in the middle of it with the trolley. The floor is a purple checkerboard pattern, round tables with dollies and curved metal chairs, the cushions had spider web themes. It smells warm and sweet, like Sweet Dream, but something was almost musky about the place. Maybe it was the spider webs tucked into the corners or along the entire ceiling is a beautiful glittering pattern. It’s not hard for you to recognize the pastries lining the shelves and inside the glass case by an antique-looking register.

You blink and suddenly the once empty room is almost full of spiders, coming out of their webs or various hiding places along the shelves and ceiling. This must have been the shop those spiders at the picnic were running a booth for, you thought putting two and two together. You eye the spiders as they surround you and your boxes, some of them even coming back in through the door with the rest of the boxes from your truck.

You frowned a bit that they somehow got into your truck, but left it alone when you heard echoing laughter from behind the counter. Turning back towards the counter, you find a purple spider monster looking back at you. Her five black eyes glittering, six arms on her hips, crossed or holding a teacup and saucer plate, the sweet smile on her face innocently deceiving with the way her fangs flashed. She wore a cute purple and magenta lolita dress: all ruffles and bows and lace. 

You suppose that this monster was “Muffet”.

You were suddenly aware of all the spiders’ eyes on you and your skin crawled, which actually turned out to be several spiders actually crawling on you; not a lot but a few, the rest stayed away. You paid them no mind, as they seemed to be only crawling on your exposed skin and over your clothes, turning your attention back to the spider monster behind the counter as spiders brought up the boxes from your truck to her.

You said nothing as she looked inside each of the boxes placed on the counter before her. She snapped her fingers and more spiders crawled over the boxes in your trolley and took them as well. You didn’t move as they emptied it. The spiders crawling over you settled onto your shoulders and the bill of your hat and on your head.

“Ahuhuhu~” Muffet giggles. “It seems some of my friends like you, human.” There is some chittering of fangs at your shoulders and head. Her black eyes widen and her smile turns more genuine.

“AH~ So you are the human they’ve been talking about.” She comes around the counter and walks towards you, placing down her tea and saucer and it’s quickly taken away by some spiders. Still more spiders in her path part for her, you notice that most are crawling back into their webs on back behind the counter with the boxes to what you guess is the kitchen.

She circles around you, making idle comments to herself. “Hmm~ quite tall...strong...sturdy...but somehow you smell sweet...ah that’s right you work at the...other shop...” You tense at her tone and even the spiders on you seem anxious. Despite her small size, she’s about as high as your ribcage, about...Sans’s height--you repress a wince--she’s intimidating. She comes to a stop in front of you holding out one of her hands.

“It’s very nice to finally meet you dearie~ I am Muffet.” You reach forward and you hand engulfs hers, but you’re gentle, but firm with your grip. You nod your head and carefully tip your hat to her, still careful of the spiders.

She doesn’t seem to mind your lack of response, but her eyes flick to your hands for a moment once you let go. It would makes sense, since Frisk, their ambassador, signs to communicate. The spiders chitter at her, and her smile falls a little. She quickly perks back up when several boxes are stacked onto your trolley again. These are branded with her shop’s logo. You quirk your head to the side in question.

“These are for you and your shop’s staff dearie~. We put samples of everything in these boxes for you all to try.” You...don’t really know how to respond to that. “Ahuhuhu~Your boss and I are doing a tryout of sorts.” She claps her hands and some of the larger spiders take your trolley and the boxes in them away to your truck.

There’s an empty silence for a few moments, only broken by the loud chittering of fangs, which seems to startle Muffet. Her mouth dips into a frown as she eyes the spiders on you, before directing her attention back to you. “Well! Thank you for the delivery dearie~” You nod at her in response, turning away towards the door.

You feel spider legs tap your cheek, so you stop before you get to the door. The spiders from before wave to you and one even hangs down from a web from the bill of your hat waving at you before extending its web to the floor. The others also web themselves away from you.

“Ahuhu~” She giggles, “They do seem to like you, dearie~” her tone is much softer and her smile more genuine. You give a noncommittal shrug, your hand on the door, but your lips do quirk a little, especially when one small stray spider crawls down from your shoulder to you arm and into your hand, no bigger than the nail of your pinky. You turn back to offer them back to Muffet and she takes them and pets them softly with one of her small fingers.

“Come back anytime dearie~” she calls after you leave the shop. You feel eyes on you as you leave the shop, not like the tiny eyes of the spiders, but cold- hard staring that burrows into your soul and sends chills down your spine. He’s found you, somehow, and you whip your head in the direction of an alleyway across the street, only to catch the barest glimpse of that blue light. You get into your truck and start driving away, but you can’t shake the feeling of those eyes watching you, until you turn a corner down a different street.

As you roll down the street you pass a bar, there’s a fire in it, and you double take, only to see the flaming bartender from before, standing behind a familiar skeleton in a blue hoodie sitting on the stool in front of him. He looked directly at you as you passed.

Once you passed the bar, that heavy chill you felt lessened. The rest of your drive back to the shop is quiet, but you’re still shaken.

When you arrive at the shop, you’re half-way in a daze. Your skin feels prickly and you you actually have to lean against the truck for support and simply breathe. He was staring at you with such a cold intensity and your emotional wall almost crumbled beneath the pressure. There was that sharp cold sting in your chest, chilling you from the inside out.

You hadn’t realized you’d closed your eyes until you’d opened them up to find Fenrir sitting in front of you.“He came by five minutes before you did, through the front door and immediately to my office.” Boss said, slightly a ways away from you. She’s trying to sound stern, but she sounds both tired and worried instead and she hands you your car keys.

“Go home for today, - - - - -. You’ve already worked yourself to the bone.” You snort at her pun, but also flinch a little at the implication. You open your mouth. “I’ll be coming by after work again. Don’t worry about making anything. I’ll bring you something instead.” That reminded you. You open up the back of the truck with the boxes, tied down in place with web and the same thing with your trolley.

“...huh.” your Boss says. You shrug and move to climb into the truck to get the boxes, but Boss stops you. “You’re going home for today, - - - - -. No arguments. Fenrir, you know what to do.” She says and Fenrir immediately starts nudging you by the legs to the break room to get your things from your locker.

You get your bag and slip on your vest and sunglasses, Fenrir grumbling at you to hurry up. You do and you see other workers getting the boxes of good from your truck when you give your Boss the keys.

The trek home is silent, but Fenrir keeps close to you, closer than normal. His fur brushes your side often. He always knows when you’re not in a good mood, and after everything that happened...you found comfort in his loyalty and companionship with you. You give him a few head rubs and he leans into your hand, blinking at you appreciatively with his bright gold eyes.

You direct your attention back to the sidewalk and your shoes, lost in thought, as Fenrir guides you back home. Your shakes have subsided, but you shiver each time the wind blows. You rub your sleeves and the mark they hide underneath. You bite the inside of your mouth, feeling the indents in the flesh as you’ve worn them in with your sharp canines over the years.

When you arrive at your house, you get out your keys and go inside, locking the door behind you, only to slump onto your couch, hunched over in thought.

You think about the stare, that one look and how haunting it was, how cold...It promised a bad time. HE promised a bad time. You gripped your mark at that, digging into your flesh with your fingers, biting down harder into the flesh of the inside of your mouth. You can barely taste the familiar iron of blood.

Fenrir grumble-whines and hefts himself onto the couch and protectively curling up around you with his head digging under your arm to be pet. You smile crookedly at him, you mod shifting with the comfort of your friend at your side. What would you do without him? You take deep calming breaths and you clutch your starshard from beneath your shirt. You lean back slowly, stopping when the back of your neck hits the top of the couch. The two of lounge there for a while, your head back and eyes closed, hand still clutched over the shard, while the other pets Fenrir.

You don’t know how long you stay like that, but when you open your eyes again, it’s to the familiar knocking at your door. You get up to open it and to your mild surprise, Boss looks...really upset. There’s evidence of tears with her slight puffy red eyes and then way she’s almost crushing the straps of the bags in her hands with how white her knuckles are.

You guide her inside and close the door, guiding her to the couch, so Fenrir can curl up around her. You go to your kitchen and fetch her a glass of water, placing it on the coffee table, next to the bag she had carried. By it’s shape, and the fact that the bag was slightly opaque, it’s a box of good from Muffet’s. She hasn’t said a word yet and just as she’s about to say something, your phone vibrates.

You grab your phone off the couch and you stiffen. There’s a new message notification. You swallow hard and then quickly read it, ignoring Boss’s and Fenrir’s stares.

The message read as such: Dear - - - - - , Hello this is Toriel and Frisk. ( My child insisted upon being part of this conversation I hope you do not mind.) My apologies for not contacting you sooner, but I’m afraid I have been busy as of late and have not had the time to contact you until now. (1/2):

:My child and I wish to invite you and your canine friend to a small party for Halloween. It will be held at a bar called, Grillby’s at 4p.m. Please message me back with your response.  
Sincerely, Toriel.  
Please come Mr. - - - - -? -Frisk: (2/2)

“- - - - -?” your Boss says, trying to get your attention. You look up at her. She looks worried, whatever was bothering her previously seemed to be put behind her as her concern for you seemed to take over her features. Fenrir’s intense gaze never left you either. You wonder what kind of face you’re making because you’re internally panicking.

You hand Boss your phone and then you hunch over, looking at the floor but occasionally watching her expression as she reads.. Her eyes are blown wide by the end of her reading the message, one of her hands going to her neck and rubbing. You watch her patiently as she slowly looks down to her lap, slightly panicked, her eyes starting to turn glossy with unshed tears. Your phone slips from her fingers to her lap. This makes the tension and panic you feel much worse. 

Toriel has invited you to her party, which means you’ll have to see Papyrus and Sans again. Could you handle that? Could you say no? Would that make them suspicious? Your thought process spirals down fast, becoming jumbled and hazy. You feel extremely cold all of sudden--are you breathing? Your hands shake and your vision feels hazy for a moment, all of the stress of the afternoon slamming into you again.

A sharp bark and somewhat cold hands clasping yours bring you somewhat back to reality. Boss was calling your name. “- - - - - ? - - - - -, breathe. Calm down. I’m here. Fenrir is here. You’re home. There’s nothing wrong. Come back.---” She’d been talking to you and Fenrir was shoving his head into your lap and licking your hands. You look down at them and find that during your little episode, you had clasped your hands so tightly together your nails cut into your skin and you drew blood. Fenrir licked at them and grumbled at you.

You’re taking deep breaths, letting out a small breathy chuckle at how ridiculous you were being, staring at your shaky hands, as Fenrir continued to lick away at your cuts. Boss had moved her hands to your shoulders then to your face, making you look at her.

“Hey, - - - - -. You ok? I haven’t seen you have an episode like that in a while. What happened?” She smoothed her thumbs over your damp cheeks--you were crying? Since when? Your mouth floundered, unable to speak the words. She sat there, stroking over your cheeks while Fenrir shoved his muzzle into your hands for pets. You did start petting him, the feel of his soft thick fur under your hands and Boss’s somewhat cold but calloused and smooth hands at your cheeks seemed to ground you back to reality. You closed your eyes and blinked away the tears that hazed your vision, continuing to take deep breaths.

When you had finally composed yourself, you told Boss all about your day; how you saw Alphys at the University, the party at the house, how you’d met Muffet, and then seeing Sans. She listened but only pulled faces at the mention of Sans. “That bastard...” she muttered. She then pulled her hands away only to slap them back to your cheeks and then pull at them, which stung and hurt. “Stop moping, - - - - -. Cheer up. You’re a great guy, strong, independent, reliable, sweet, a KILLER chef. You don’t need to worry.” While her compliments did help they didn’t exactly quell all your fears...well Boss wasn’t the best with comforting words, but she tried and that’s what counted.

You gave her a half-smile and she finally pulled her hands away and you rubbed your sore cheeks. “Anyway, I don’t know what that skeleton’s problem is but if he messes with you I’m going to give him a---” she stops and then continues, “Well if he keeps messing with you I’ll kick his pelvis.” You don’t respond to that, but you give Fenrir one last pat on the head before getting up on somewhat shaky legs to sit down next to her on the couch, angling yourself towards her.

“What about you?” you ask, quietly and her mood instantly shifts back to troubled. She looks away, thinking, rubbing at her neck. Fenrir looks between the two of you, before settling down at both of your feet. It’s quiet again and your rub you sleeves as the tension grows.

Eventually Boss takes a deep breath, and looks back up at you. There’s a fierce determination in her eyes.

“- - - - -, I’ve met my soulmate.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me something, anything: gripe at me, compliment me, tell me how much you hate how i took to long, etc.
> 
> You know the drill.
> 
> Stay Determined.


	8. “In the Spider’s Web”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> whats been going on with boss part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MY PROJECTS KILLED MY BRAIN BUT!!  
> here you are again
> 
> thanks so much for your patience and support all: 80 bookmarks, 417 kudos, 4692 hits. XD

You stare at Boss, completely wide eyed, looking from her neck and back to her face. She has this nervous look in her eyes, some kind of confused fear in them. That’s not a good sign. She clenches and unclenches her hands in her lap. 

“And?” you prompt her.

“The queen mentioned “Grillby’s”, it’s a monster bar run by a fire monster named Grillby. The skel--Sans is a regular there. And I-I met him there...He’s...he’s a dog monster. My soulmate is a dog monster, - - - - -.” she gets more and more nervous as she speaks, but there’s also a hint of anger in her tone.

You somehow aren’t as surprised as you thought you’d be, except for stiffening at finding out that the bar for the party is a place Sans frequents...Wait! You might have passed that bar on your way back to the shop. That’s why you saw Sans--- You snap out of your thoughts. This wasn’t about you. You push your encroaching thoughts away and redirect your attention back to Boss. She had always been the kind to, putting it simply, “gush” over soulmates. She’d always hoped hers would show up one day. However, she isn’t as happy as you imagined she would be. 

Whatever she was going to tell you,was important and just as she had been there for you, you were going to be her support. You steel yourself, hoping for the best and expecting the worst. “Tell me everything, from the beginning (f/n),” you say, your voice even and firm, almost commanding. She whips her head towards you. You hardly ever used her real name. But she knows you’re serious when you do. She takes a breath to try to calm herself.

“It all started last week...” She began.

\- - - -

~One Week Ago~

Boss sat in her office, taking a call from a certain spider monster who ran a bakery who had been trying to contact her for a while, mostly through spiders showing up with letters for her, but unfortunately some of those said spiders were lost along with the letters and thus she was taking a call from Muffet, who had run a bake stand at the picnic.

Muffet had apparently, been told by her spiders--she didn’t question it--that the pastries and cakes made at the event were from her shop and she’d been meaning to meet with her to discuss a possible partnership. “How about we do an exchange?” Muffet’s voice cooed.

“An exchange? Like I give you some samples from my shop and you from yours?” she inquired. “Precisely dearie~. Neither of us will pay each other a thing either. We shall let our skills do the talking. Ahuhuhu~” Boss knew it was a challenge, and she was far from backing down. “Sure thing I’ll have them delivered to you next week. My delivery guy and main patissere are both swamped with work this week with an influx of orders. Is that acceptable?” she challenged back. “Certainly (f/n~)” there was a slight edge to Muffet’s voice, “I look forward to meeting them. I shall send my samples back with them to you as well. Oh! I have to go dearie I have some customer’s waiting~” The line went dead and Boss finally breathed.

She rubbed her neck at the unexpected weight lifted off her shoulders, she unbuttoned her chef’s jacket as well. - - - - - had been busy with the work she’d given him and was working himself down to the bone--she made a face at her accidental pun. She looked at the calendar, Halloween was going to be soon and they’d already put specialty items on the menu to fit the season: pumpkin pie, cinnamon carrot cake, chocolate peanut butter fudge, peanut brittle, peppermint- dark chocolate cakes... She should actually get to working on some things in the kitchen, or her workers’ would slack off, well maybe not Natalie or Maya, but Herman and Jack tended to slack off sometimes.

She made her way out of her office and into the back kitchen where Natalie and Jack were busy at work, “Hey Boss, H-hi bo-boss” they said and she waved and headed for the storefront, where Maya and Herman were busy, behind the counter. Maya was putting together a to-go order in a box and Herman at the register. Well at least they weren’t slacking...she felt something crawling on her arm and found one of Muffet’s spiders there. This one was entirely fuzzy light purple with blue eyes, about the size of a half dollar.

She nearly brushed it off of her, but stopped herself, getting an idea. “Hey there. Need a lift home?” she asked the spider. And then Maya screamed. “OMG BOSS YOU HAVE A---” “Maya! Calm down!” she snapped and Maya shut her mouth. The store had gone silent. The spider had crawled up onto her shoulder, during Maya’s outburst. Boss looked over the shop and found the patrons looking their way.

“Apologies for the noise folks, but nothing to worry about. Carry on.” she said and they did, but she heard muttering and the sound of people leaving, but she turned her attention back to Maya and Herman. “Got a new friend, Boss?” Herman joked, finishing up getting change for a customer, a nice looking young man who was peering curiously at the spider at her shoulder. Maya had stood awkwardly several feet away.

“Something like that, Herman.” she said smiling before her smiled slipped and she turned to Maya, hands at her hips. “Maya go take a break, Herman and I will finish up here.” she snipped, then leaned towards her companion, “Sorry about that sweetie, but I’ll take you back to Muffet after we’ve finished with the customers here alright?” The spider didn’t answer, but she felt it settle itself down on her shoulder.

“Alright, first things first. Herman scoot over. You’re filling out orders now.” Herman mock saluted her and moved to filling out orders while she took to the register. She took the next customers’ orders and rang them up, not minding the curious if not somewhat apprehensive looks on her human customers’ faces. 

After about a half hour, Maya came back to help Herman with filling out orders, Boss paid her no mind as she worked the register faster than they could fill out orders and began helping them with those as well. After another hour or so the steady stream of customers died down. 

Seeing how slow it was she turned back to the two, “I’ll be heading out now, the two of you hold down the shop until I get back.” She stared at them, pointedly. “Yes Boss.” they answered. She went back into the kitchen to tell the same thing to Jack and Natalie. Heading into her office, her new spider friend climbed to her desk while she got her coat and purse, leaving her chef’s jacket on her desk chair.

She found her new little friend holding one of the sticky notes from her desk where they’ve written one phrase, “Thank you” is somewhat slanted writing. She smiled at it. “You’re welcome. And you can write? Impressive.” It placed the note down and crawled around, as if waiting for her. She placed her hand out, palm-up for it to crawl into. It did, then she realized something.

“Ah I should introduce myself. You might already know who I am, but anyway...I’m (f/n). (F/n) (L/n). Nice to meet you.” She smiled down at the spider. It webbed a pen and the note from before and she watched as it wrote something on the paper to show her. “Hello (f/n). I am Charlotte.” “Pretty name. So what--” Charlotte took a web to her chest and presented a card to her. “Muffet wants to meet you.” Boss suddenly felt a more than just Charlotte’s eight eyes staring at her. 

Even though she’d locked gazes with the spider she felt her skin crawl and she felt...intimidated. Where was - - - - - when she needed him? She blinked slowly, and breathed deep. “I have a feeling you’re “escorting” me to Muffet?” she threw out and Charlotte nodded, clicking her fangs faintly. “O...k... then...Let’s get going then?” she said already starting for the back door where she’d parked her car, taping directions for Muffet’s bakery as she went, biting her inner lips, more than a little shaken, but she didn’t want to appear unsettled.

The drive was quiet, but she had a good idea of where she was going, plus she had her trusty GPS. The Monster District wasn’t anything new to her, it gave her new places to shop and new foods and drinks to try. She especially liked CinnaBunnies. However, she got a bit turned around making a detour past some monsters moving into a new apartment. She passed by some shops she’d never seen before, including a bar. She found Muffet’s eventually though, stopping the car across the street.

She sat in her parked car for a bit, wondering why Muffet, who sounds so sweet on the phone had to “persuade” her to come to her shop. Weren’t they already doing the exchange?...Charlotte tapped her cheek with a few legs to snap her out of her thoughts.She parked her car and go out, making sure Charlotte was on her shoulder before entering the shop. She was immediately greeted with spiders. Lots of spiders, everywhere around the shop. On the shelves, on the ceiling, on the register...They all had their many eyes on her, but she was looking at the purple monster in goth-loli clothes behind the counter. 

Charlotte immediately webbed over to who Boss presumed to be Muffet. The spider in one of Muffet’s many hands chittered quickly as Boss stayed by the door. With Muffet’s gaze away from her she felt her skin prickle with the many eyes of the spiders in the shop. The five black eyes on Muffet’s face flicked from her to the spider in her hand, her fanged mouth widening into a smile more and more as Charlotte spoke. Boss sees the spider close in on her, and takes a cautionary step back.

At that moment, Muffet walks over to her, Charlotte in hand and her spiders scatter, creating a path for her to walk through. Muffet is only a few inches shorter than she was, she notes. “Ahuhu~ Charlotte has told me everything, dear (F/n). Nearly none, but you and one other human have been kind to my spiders.” She says with a sweet smile but her jet black eyes made it much more menacing, sending shivers down her back. “Well let’s talk business shall we?” She turns and waves for you to sit at one of the nearby tables, where some spiders have prepared some tea? for them.

Boss took a seat and Muffet slides into the chair across from her. Her attention is still drawn to the spiders around the shop rather than the tea in front of her. She see Charlotte crawl across the table to her and waves her legs at Boss. Boss lowers a hand for the spider to crawl into. “Not afraid of spiders, dearie?” Muffet questioned. Boss shook her head, “Not anymore, no but if they surprise me...or come at me in alarming numbers...” she trails off and Muffet grins, sipping the tea.

“Anyway, what other business do we need to discuss? Are we no longer doing the sampling exchange?” she questions. Muffet pauses in her drinking of tea and places the cup back down onto the table. “No dear, we may still be able to do that, however I---” she stops and purses her lips, eyes blinking as she tries to form the words in her head. Boss is patient with her, waiting for to gather her thoughts. Charlotte crawls over to Muffet and chitters, as well as the other spiders.

“A human...has never actually agreed to work with me--with us. They’re afraid. Humans seem to fear spiders, and with me, being the spider monster I am...” she says strained. Ahhh, so that’s it. Boss clenches her fists, wondering how many humans did not even give Muffet a chance, judging her because she’s a monster, perhaps even her spiders. 

She took one of Muffet’s hands gently, letting her pull away if she wanted to, and Boss was glad she didn’t. She shook their hands.“I think I get it. Please let me apologize for what you might’ve been through. Humans can be cruel and unforgiving and prejudice. Really we aren’t the best as a whole.” Muffet watches her intently as she speaks and she gently squeezes her hand.

“And let me say that I’m fully willing to give you the chance to work with me and my shop. If you would still like to pursue that kind of partnership. Well, we’ll see after the exchange now won’t we? And I’m babbling...sorry I babble when I’m a little nervous, I’m terrible at comforting really. Anyway we weren’t properly introduced were we? Hello I’m (F/n) (L/n), owner of Sweet Dream. Pleased to make your acquaintance Little Miss Muffet.” She rushed thought that a bit, but smiled at her little joke, hoping to lighten the heavy mood. And to her relief Muffet actually giggled, looking relieved shaking her hand in turn, even adding one of her other hands to the mix. “Wonderful to meet you as well, dearie~” Charlotte webbed herself up onto their joined hands and scuttled around their wrists, looking (she hoped) pleased.

There was a comfortable silence between them as they pulled away and some spiders poured Boss a cup of tea, which she took and sipped a little. Upon placing the cup down she spoke, “So...” she prompted, “What did you want to talk about?” Muffet brightened and immediately started asking questions, everything about baking: about human’s fear of spiders, tips on how to use kitchen appliances, weighing pro’s and con’s of wood fire ovens v. modern kitchen ovens, other flavors she’d never tried making, etc. She did most of the asking, as if she was giving a consultation to a new business. Boss didn’t mind, she found the more Muffet talked the more excited she became, her spiders made themselves comfortable around them, settling in their webs, on the floor, on the shelves, Boss found she didn’t mind so much as she focused on Muffet. The tension in the room become less intimidating and much more inviting and warm.They continued talking well into the evening and by the time they were done talking, the sun had set.

By the end, her stomach interrupted Muffet, growling loudly. Muffet let out a surprised laugh. “Oh dear, I’ve kept you late (F/n)...I could make you something to eat if--” Boss shook her head. While they were talking Boss had drank only a few cups of tea and found it quite nice, but... “I don’t want an early taste test just yet, when I don’t have anything to give you.” “But I--” Boss stopped her with a hand. “I gotta go back to the shop anyways, my workers will complain.” She stood up and tried to excuse herself, Muffet stood with her.

“How about I take you for dinner then, (F/n)?” Muffet asked and Boss whipped her head up as she was getting her things together, to look at her, slightly startled. “You kept me company today I would like to feed you at least, if not my food then a good friend of mine. He owns a bar not to far from here.” “I---” Boss started.“I insist.” Muffet interrupted. Boss sighed, checking her phone: several messages from Natalie and Herman and few from Jack and Maya, and one text from - - - - -.

She calls Herman. “Boss!!! I know you’re the boss but give us a warning of you’re going to ditch at least.” was his greeting. “Oh shut up Herman. Sorry I got caught up in a conversation with Muffet. I miss anything?” she asked. “Nah, not much but the delivery guy swung by for his shift, Maya gave him a bit of grief and Natalie’s warming up to him--actually that might be why Maya doesn’t like him...He went home though and we’re closing up shop right now.” 

“Oh. I’m so sorry Herman.” She says, feeling guilty. “It’s fine boss. Just give us a warning next time, alright?” he says relaxed. “Alright thanks Herman.” “Anytime Boss. See ya tomorrow.” They hung up and she turned to Muffet. “Welp. My shop is taken care of. So i guess I’ll take you up on your offer.” This made Muffet’s fanged grin widen with mischief.

“Wonderful~.” Muffet waved all six of her hands, causing her spiders to scatter and clean everything up. She also had a bag brought to her by her spiders as well as a fluffy looking coat. She buttoned it up while you made your esca--opened got to the door, holding it open for her. “Eager to leave dearie~?” she teased, winking for good measure and Boss gave out a nervous laugh as Muffet exited the shop with a “Watch the shop dearies~” to her spiders. 

You gave a small wave to them and Charlotte waved a leg from the table, helping some other spiders take away the tea set. Muffet locked up the shop and the lights went out. She took your arm in three of hers and dragged you down the street, which was it by streetlights but eerily quiet. She directed you to the bar you’d passed on the way here. It’s sign illuminated in shining brass reading: Grillby’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HO BOY HERE WE GO. i can feel your guy's anticipation from here.
> 
> Stay determined.


	9. “In the heat of the moment”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> continuing from last time of BB

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HERE WE GO! *says in the best Mario voice I can muster*
> 
> Thanks for being so patient and thank you so much for the support guys!!
> 
> 460+ kudos, 85+ bookmarks, 5280+ hits. OMG I PASSED 5000 hits!! XD I <3 You guys so much and hope to continue writing stuff you enjoy!
> 
> ONTO THE CHAPTER!!

Boss paused there, watching you as the gears in your head turned. “Grillby’s”. Grillby! The flaming bartender from the picnic! The once you saw behind Sa--. You facepalmed yourself. Stupid. You were stupid. Why didn’t you connect the dots sooner? You ran a hand through your hair and gripped the strands as if to tear them from your scalp.

“You know the place?” she asks, surprised. You shake your head and says, “Met the owner. At the picnic.” your voice low and gravelly, making you wince. “Huh. Small world.” she comments. “Too small,” you think. You then realize something and slowly lift your head to stare at Boss, then you point at her neck, looking down at it and look back to her face, your mouth parting to ask and she beats you to it with a firm head shake. 

“It’s not the bartender...It’s one of his regulars, besides your asshole of a skeleton.” she ends that with some bitterness. Uh oh...She takes a deep breath, but she’s still upset. “He isn’t winning any brownie points from me. He’s a jerk. So far I don’t like him - - - - -. I don’t know about his brother though. He seems sweet and all but---” You take her shoulders and look her in the eye and she deflates.

“Sorry, lemme explain...” She shifts herself and you so that she lays in your lap and has Fenrir within petting distance. You don’t comment on how this seems like a therapy session.

~back to the flashback~

Muffet opened the door and pulled Boss inside.

She’s immediately blasted by the warmth. The floors and walls are wood and fire lamps hang from the ceiling and along the walls. There are 3 booths on either wall and 4 scattered tables of varying sizes on the floor, at the far wall is the bar with shelves and shelves of drinks and a jukebox to one side. The place is full of monsters, which stop to look at her, particularly the table full of bipedal dog monsters, 2 of which in armor of some kind: one a shiny black and the other a shiny silver, 2 in dark pullover hoodies and dark pants, and one wearing a ski mask, a tank top, camo pants, and a spiked collar around his neck. Boss could see their noses twitch as they smelled the air, most likely smelling her.

In one booth, there’s a drunken bunny monster sitting across from a monster made mostly of teeth. The bunny is babbling drunken nonsense and she’s not sure if the monster of teeth is looking at her or not. Another booth has a large furry wolf monster talking to a sea horse monster, both of whom side eye her. Another booth has a blue bunny monster and an orange cat monster, the bunny smiles and waves at her and the cat just stares. The other tables and booths are empty. Muffet drags her over to the bar where a red bird monster and a fish monster are passed out drunk and a punk hamster monster is leaning against the jukebox. Behind the bar is a flame elemental in a sharp shirt, vest, and bowtie, cleaning a glass.

“Good evening, Grillby.” Muffet greets him. He nods and turns his attention to Boss. “(F/n) this is Grillby. Grillby, this is (F/n).” She introduced her. She smiles at him, unsure where she should be looking, since his face had no visible features--how did those glasses stay in place?--and offered her hand, which he takes. There’s no burn like she expected, only a sharp warmth, like fresh bread out of the oven. He shakes her hand and then lets go gesturing to the bottles, signing something with his hands to Muffet.

“Grillby would like to know what you want to drink.” Muffet translates. Oh, Boss supposed he didn’t speak. “Nothing alcoholic, please I’ll take some hot chocolate if you have it.” Her stomach growls. “And the best food you’ve got please.” she adds looking somewhat embarrassed. His fire crackles a little like a laugh and then he turns to Muffet. “A Ruined Berry please Grillby.” Grillby nods with a bow to both of them and then disappears into the back door, which funnily enough reads: Fire Exit.

“So what do you think of this dearie?” Muffet says, two set of arms crossed over her waistline, one arm supporting her chin as she leaned against it, and the last arm gesturing out to the bar. She smiled slyly as if she already knew Boss’s answer. She smiled, resigned at her. “This place is amazing. It’s...warm.” Muffet nods, understanding and then some of her eyes shift focus from you to out into the bar. “Seems you have some admirers (F/n)...” she says, as a few spiders crawls down from the ceiling, making themselves comfortable in the bow in her hair.

Boss look out over the bar again, following her gaze. This caused some of the patrons who had been staring at her to quickly turn away, except for one. One of the dog monsters was staring at her quite intently, the one in the camo pants and tank top. He was squinting at her, a--what looked like a burning dog treat in his mouth, his nose still twitching.

She tilted her head quizzically at him, locking gazes and his eyes opened wide, his nose twitching, until one of his friends, one of the dogs in the hoodies, thumped him on the shoulder and he then looked away. Weird...”Ahuhuhu~That’s Doggo.” Muffet comments, giggling her five black eyes twinkling. Boss turn to her surprised. “All of them were part of the Royal Guard you know, Dogamy and Dogaressa are the two in the black sweaters, Greater Dog in the black armor and Lesser Dog in the silver armor. They mostly patrolled around Snowdin.” “‘Snowdin’?” Boss asked.

Muffet nodded and then Grillby came back with her food. It was steaming plate of a burger and fries. He got to work on her drink as well, mixing together milk and melted chocolate, dropping marshmallows in and finishing it off with whipped cream and cinnamon. He set it down before her and Boss gave him a bright smile, “It looks amazing. Thanks you.” She thinks she sees a white line appear across where his mouth would be in a small smile. 

Then he gets to work with Muffet’s drink, taking out a nice martini glass, with purple accents along the rim of the glass, putting a mix of some slightly luminescent light purple liquid into a shaker along with some other purple and magenta liquids and some sparkling water. He shakes it around and then pours the mixture into the glass, and it was suddenly an opaque lavender! He takes some berries and ran them along the rim of the glass and add some purple sugar. Then he places a new berry on the edge of the glass and places it in front of Muffet.

She takes it with a smile and blows Grillby a kiss, before taking a sip of it. “Wonderful as always, Grillby.” she comments. He nods and then goes off to tend to the next customer. Boss is still starry-eyed when Muffet looks back to her. Muffet laughs, showing off her fangs. “Amazing isn’t he?” Boss can only nod. Muffet gestures to her food with a hand. “Well dearie~? Go on.” Boss take the burger and takes a bite. She hums in approval, closing her eyes to savor the taste, chewing a little and then feels it disappear, like magic food always does.

She chows down into her food. “It’s good, isn’t it?” Muffet asks, sipping her drink, highly amused. Boss doesn’t care. She nods like a child, half-way done with her burger. She places it down to sip at her hot chocolate, which had cooled. It made her feel warm and fluffy. Grillby was back in front of her again as if waiting for her to say something. “It’s amazing Grillby! It’s so~ good. You’re a genius! I wish I could make my cakes taste like this! Man, sometimes I wish I had magic just to put it in food like you guys do. It’s delicious!! I gotta bring my friend here sometime he’d love it!” Boss gushed at him and she saw part of his face go blue and his mouth appeared again for a bigger smile.

He bows to her and she heard a smoky voice say, “Thank you.” He’s off to another customer before Boss can respond, her jaw dropping open. Muffet seems to have a similar expression as they lock gazes and they share a smile. “Grillby usually doesn’t speak, dearie~ Consider it an honor.”Muffet says quietly, more seriously, but not in a way that’s condescending. “Oh I am.” Boss replies awed, nodding her head, blushing with happiness. 

She then feels once more like she’s being stared at by just about everyone in the bar. She goes to eating her fries-hmmm no ketchup... good she didn’t like ketchup anyway or mustard for that matter. “So..about ‘Snowdin’, that’s one of the cities underground right?” she asks. “Yes, it’s one of them.” Muffet’s short reply was somewhat discomforting. While they had talked about many things about the surface in the shop she didn’t ask about the Underground. Muffet seemed to sense her hesitation, or she heard the quiet clicks of fangs from the spiders in her bows.

“Would you like to know about the Underground?” Muffet asks, she’s not smiling. “Only if you’d like to share. I don’t want to pry if it’s uncomfortable for you. I was just curious about what kind of places there were, like ‘Snowdin’ sounds like a winter kind of place, but there was snow Underground or something and the name is a pun, so...” She trailed off, embarrassed, digging back into her food to stop her ranting. The spiders’ chitters are louder and Muffet takes a sip of her cocktail before patting her on the shoulder with a hand.

Boss turns to her after swallowing her fry. “Snowdin is a place in the Underground, it’s where Grillby had his previous bar and there was snow, and trees, but no light...” Muffet went on and on, while Boss listened. She heard about the Ruins, originally called “Home”which Muffet’s drink was named after and where most of her spider-kin lived, separated from her and her other spider friends in Hotlands by Snowdin’s cold climate and Waterfall’s wet atmosphere. And then their was the Capital: New Home. The names were chosen by the King, which Boss decides are quite bad. She enjoyed her food and drink while Muffet talked,and before she knew it, her burger and fries were gone. She felt satisfied, even though there wasn’t really anything physically there to fill her stomach.

“Thanks for taking me here Muffet and for the great discussions.” Boss said raising her hot chocolate in a toast. “You’re welcome dearie.” She answered back, raising her half gone cocktail and they clicked glasses. They drank their drinks down until there was nothing left. Muffet’s eyes shift over the bar again and she smiles devilishly before winking at you with 2 of her eyes. She turns to wave to Grillby, as Boss looked at her confused until she hears talking behind her. 

When turns around in her stool she’s met with a furry muzzle. And she's licked across the cheek with a tongue. She sputters, closing her eye to prevent slobber to get into it, and curling up in her chair to prevent further licks. “LD that is...” She hears a male voice start, “...bad manners you know.” a female voice finishes, which is followed by barks and the dog monster in silver armor whines. “Oh dear,” Muffet says amused. Then a couple of tissues are offered to her, which Boss uses to wipe her face before looking up again.

Lesser Dog is crouched in front of her, ears flat, and whining in front of her. He(?)’s giving Boss the puppy face. Greater Dog is several steps behind Lesser Dog, towering over both of them by at least 2 heads, he(?) also looks somewhat displeased somehow. Dogamy and Dogaressa are standing from their seats and walking over to them, Doggo gets up to follow them, almost tripping over the table. She jerks from her seat, but he easily catches himself and makes his way over.

“Please excuse...” “...Lesser Dog, human...” “...he gets...” “...very excited when...” “...a human comes in.” Dogamy and Dogaressa say in unison, which is both amazing and slightly creepy. “Oh don’t worry, I’m not mad I was just surprised.” Boss said, smiling a bit at them. Lesser Dog’s ears perk up and he(?) pushes his(?) nose into her lap, his tail wagging against the floor. Aww...he’s (?) she’s(?) so cute... Boss can’t help but give Lesser Dog a couple ear scratches and ruffle the fluffy white fur on either side of Lesser Dog’s face. “You’re so sweet. Don’t worry, it’s ok. Just give me some warning barks or say something next time ok?” She says in a sweet voice down at Lesser Dog.

Then she fully realizes what she’s done and immediately pulls back. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry that was so rude of me to touch your face without permission!!” She panics, but Lesser Dog just whines at her at the loss of contact, was it just her or was his(?) her(?) neck longer than it was? Lesser Dog is pulled away by Greater Dog, which caused Boss to curl in on herself in shame. Then something white and fluffy hops into her lap, causing her back to hit the bar. It’s a medium sized white dog, similar to Lesser Dog but...then she sees the empty suit of black armor. She looks back at the dog in her lap. “G-Greater Dog?” she questions, cautiously and gets an approving yip from the dog. 

Huh. She also starts petting the dog and the dog almost vibrates with yips and happiness, where off to the side, Lesser Dog is grumbling unhappily. “It seems...” “...they like you.” Dogamy and Dogaressa say. “S-so I wasn’t being rude, petting them?” she asked. They shook their heads. “No they both...” “...like being pet.” “Especially...” “...Lesser Dog...” “...she likes...” “...the attention.” Oh so LD was a she. “And you Greater Dog?” she addresses the dog in her lap, who only wags his(?) her(?) tail and yips. “Greater Dog...” “...doesn’t usually...” “...come out...” “...for pets...” “...unless he... “...feels comfortable.” Oh so GD was a he.

“Oh, we did not...” “..introduce ourselves...” “...did we?” “My name is Dogamy, and this is my wife...” “...Dogaressa, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” They hold out their paws to shake, and Boss isn’t surprised they’re covered in fur and similar in shape to human hands. She shakes both of their hands while keeping GD balanced in her lap. GD jumps back into his armor though and stears LD back to their poker table, as Dogamy pushes Doggo forward. 

He’s got shifty eyes, looking around, almost in suspicion, until Boss waves and then he zeroes in on her. He just stares, doesn’t speak, only stares. His gazes makes her uncomfortable. Muffet coughs into a fist and both he and Boss jump, whipping to their sides to look at her. Muffet just gestures for him to introduce himself, and giving her an encouraging smile. Boss tentatively smiles back. The whole situation is tense and awkward.

Doggo and Boss look back to each other, Doggo seeming to gulp and whips his paws on the sides of his camo pants. “Well...” “...say something.” she hears Dogamy and Dogaressa say to him. **“You smell sweet.”** are the first words he blurts out of his mouth at her, a blush seeming to crawl over his fur beneath the mask her wore. His voice is somewhat choked, rough, and smoky. His breath smelled like the dog treat he was smoking, while Dogamy, Dogaressa, Muffet, and several other patrons of the bar facepalm. LD and GD giving out grumbling whines and bowing their heads in disappointment.

 **“And you smell like dog treats.”** she says, somewhat offended. “Have you been smelling me this whole time?” she asks. Then it hits her and she freezes in place, while his ears perk up, as well as the other dogs’ and his pupils grow huge in his dark eyes. Her hand slowly goes to her scarf-covered neck and his goes to the collar around his. “Oh my stars.” three voices say at once: Dogamy, Dogaressa, and Muffet.

It’s deathly quiet in the bar now, and then it erupted into a loud chorus of cheers. Muffet pulled Boss into a hug and Doggo was (quite literally) dog piled. Boss was on autopilot, still in shock. Her soulmate was an anthropomorphic dog monster...her soulmate was an ANTHROPOMORPHIC DOG-MONSTER!!!! Thousands of scenarios rushed through her head, she got a bit dizzy thinking about them. HOLY SHIZNITS was she SCREWED. Muffet seemed to feel her tension, but before anything was said, Boss somehow heard the jingle of the front door opening.“whoa i thought i was going to grillby’s not the dog house. what’s got everybody so fired up?” a familiar deep voice said. 

_“SANS!”_ the crowd of patrons called, overjoyed and happy, but Boss was almost shaking with anger. “Oh HELL no.” she said, starling Muffet, as she got up from her stool. “Puck this spit I’m out.” she said shaking her head, as she made her way to the door. “Wait! (F/n), where are you going?!” Muffet called. “Home. I-I have a lot of things to think about.” she calls over her shoulder. 

When she turns back though, the skeleton is in her way. He’s shorter than her by a few inches, wearing an oversized blue hoodie, white shirt, black basketball shorts, socks and pink slippers. He has a strained smile over his face and his sockets are void. Boss glares at him with every inch of venom and anger she can muster in this confusing situation. She just walks right up to him, staring him down. There’s no retort, but she feels sharp static coming from him, just on the edge of magic.

She’s on the edge of saying something, but she bites her tongue. Then she heard steps coming from behind her and steps around Sans to the door. When she turns back, she plasters the most apologetic smile on her face. “Thanks for everything, Muffet, Grillby.” Grillby had come up behind her and was looking down at Sans, still frozen on the spot. She locks eyes with Doggo, who looks upset, ears flat and hunched. “See you around.” she leaves the bar without another word.

She gets to her car as quick as she can, fighting off frustrated tears. She gets in, turns up the radio and tries not to think about it on her way home. She goes back onto autopilot, going through her routine at home, dressing in her pajamas, taking a shower, pointedly ignored her soulmark around her neck, like a vice, like a collar. She brushed her teeth and went to bed and only then did she decide she would break down into soundless sobs and cries until she fell asleep.

~back to the present~

The two of you sat in silence. You took it all in, how she met her soulmate, her deal with Muffet, her reaction to Sans, what happened between them anyway? She didn’t say. Fenrir had placed his head in her lap, much like in her recalling of events, “Lesser Dog” had done. She pet him, but occasionally glances at you, gauging your reaction.

“You...haven’t gone back, have you?” you say, quietly. She shakes her head. “I’m embarrassed and guilty, I’ve tried, but your skeleton is always there, so I haven’t gone. I don’t want to fight him.” she says honestly. “Muffet has contacted me and offered to play messenger, but her fees are expensive and I’m still not done processing it, like it hasn’t hit yet.” she says, trying to lighten the heavy atmosphere. 

“(F/n)...that’s not like you.” you say. She looks at you surprised. “You’re...usually more straightforward. Honest. Y-you should...see him...Doggo.” you say, somewhat trailing off as she drills holes into you from her stare. “S-sorry.” you apologize, fiddling with your sleeves, and hunching over, an embarrassed flush on your cheeks on how bold you were being. You were terrible at advice, it’s been so long...You suddenly have a lap-full of your boss as she squeezes the ever loving hell out of you. It hurts but you hear her mumble into your stomach. 

“You’re right, - - - - -. This isn’t like me at all.” she looks up at you, smiling apologetically. “Sorry for having you deal with my moods and BS.” You smile a bit down at her, shrugging. “You’re amazing you know - - - - -. That jerk of a skeleton doesn’t deserve you.” she pouts, grumbling. You give a few humorless laughs in response. She sits up in front of you clapping, startling you and Fenrir.

“I got it! The party! The party the Queen invited you to! Can you ask her if you can bring along a guest?” What? You stare at her confused, but she’s already scrambling for your phone and typing away on it. You frantically wave your hands, unsure of what she’s doing or if you should stop her. She fist pumps and jumps a bit on the couch in triumph before showing you your phone screen.

:Good evening, Your Majesty and I would be honored to attend your party. May I ask if I may bring my friend along with me?: Your Boss had typed, as you widened your eyes in horror and then your jaws dropped open at the response.

:Certainly my child. There will be others monsters at the party as well, friends of ours of course. So you may bring your friend if you want to. And please call me Toriel, none of this “Your Majesty” business.:

You look up from the phone and Boss is grinning like the cat that caught the canary. “This is the perfect opportunity - - - - -.” she says seriously. “I...have to face Doggo. And you need to face your skeletons.” She points at her self then jabs at you with her pointer finger. “I’ll be there for you if things go wrong, plus we’ll have Fen if things go really wrong.” Fenrir sits proudly in front of the two of you. “Right, Fen?” she asks him and he gruffs in response. “See?” she says, a hopeful smile on her face.

You’re not as sure as she is. You think it over. Realistically, you could not avoid Sans and Papyrus forever (as much as you would want to...kinda...maybe...) They didn’t know anything about you, and you them, not wanting to search up information on the internet, which was a mix of truths and lies. They don’t know who you are, who you were, but then again neither does Boss. You have no friends besides Boss and Fenrir, you were dead to your family, and they in turn, for the most part to you. What else did you have to lose at this point?

 _ **“Sometimes you just have to take the leap.”**_ You remember.

You look back up to Boss, she’s looking at you smugly, already knowing your answer. You nod. “Let’s do it.” you say. She cheers and Fenrir hops up onto the couch to you, wagging his tail. The two of you laugh and pet him for a few minutes, calming down. The silence is peaceful and content now than it was before.

Suddenly, Boss grabs your wrist, pulling you up, almost dumping Fenrir off, had he not jumped off and over the coffee table, landing on his feet and walking to the door. How he knew what Boss was up to you still have no idea.You looked up at her as she tugged you to standing and walked to the door, dragging you behind her. “We’re going to need costumes and I got the best ideas~.” she sing-songs.

_Oh boy..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *ding ding sing* for those of you who called it. IT's DOGGO. There aren't many slash fics with him or any of the dog monsters, as far as I know, but I've read some with BP...NO IDEA why. SO HERE YA GO~
> 
> Please leave me a comment and feedback thanks.
> 
> Stay DETERMINED.


	10. “Skeletons inside your closet”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Insight into the skulls of our favorite boneheads!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a bit longer than i thought. *sigh* but here it is!  
> Thanks for the continued support everybody!  
> oh my stars we got ~530 kudos, 100+ bookmarks and 6100+ hits. (YAY PASSED 6000)
> 
> Also FANART!  
> By VixenTheif: http://vixenthiefvt.tumblr.com/post/155580775153/reader-from-bare-bones

Sans lays on the messy bed of his room, thinking it all boiled down to this. He knows Papyrus is in the next room, working on his costume. Halloween was soon and he doesn’t really care, but his brother seemed excited about the holiday. What he was worried about were the humans, he had actually met the human’s “Boss”. She wasn’t what he expected, being a couple inches taller than he was and the owner of a bakery, apparently the same shop Alphys posted about. He thought back to that night...

Sans had been going to Grilly’s like he usually did at night, but unlike usual it was really loud inside the bar. Did he miss some celebration? He opens the door, fully expecting some commotion, telling some silly joke like usual. Then he sees that there’s a human woman sitting at the bar, next to Muffet of all monsters, giving him a look that could kill, if he wasn’t technically dead already heh. He’s never seen her before, she had shoulder length brown hair, and fierce brown eyes, wearing something business casual: black slacks and shoes and a coat, but her voice is all too familiar.

Sans stood frozen in the middle of the bar, even as she passed him, rooted to the spot. She didn’t say anything directly to him though. Once the door of the bar closed, there were a thousand questions running through her head. “What have you done this time Sans?” Muffet asks in a sickly sweet voice. He looks up at her and she’s still sitting at the bar, legs crossed sipping her cocktail, but all five of her black eyes focussed on him. “Sans you know...” “...that human?” Dogamy and Dogaressa ask. He doesn’t answer, but he sees Doggo fiddling with his spiked collar then he says, “I’m going out for a smoke guys.” He still has a dog treat in his mouth but he goes out anyway.

GD and LD whine and follow Doggo out, Dogamy and Dogaressa pay Grillby before following after, the game at their table forgotten. “Poor dears...” Muffet says after them. Sans calms down enough to sit down at the bar, but then slumps again. Grillby placed a ketchup bottle in front of him, but he doesn’t touch it.

Sans felt Muffet and Grillby’s stares on him as he lay at the bar, for stars know how long. Grillby left to care for some order’s, but the bar emptied for the night and then it was simply the three of them. [You know that human Sans?] Grilby signed when Sans poked his sockets out from his crossed arms. “yeah...remember that human i was talking about before? That’s their boss.” he says. “Ahhh so you know their employee who helped out Grillby at the picnic.” Muffet added. There was the sharp crackle of fire. [That was the human?] Grillby signed furiously to her. 

Muffet laughed and Sans frowned. So they both knew the human. “am i missing something here?” Muffet turned her dark gaze to him again. “Ahuhu~ Yes it seems you’re missing quite a few pieces of the puzzle~”

Muffet had told him all about how the human hung around her and Grillby’s little booths and what happened. Grillby nodded along with her story. “Now Sans dearie~, what could you have you possibly done to (F/n) to make her dislike you so much?” Muffet asked venom in her voice. Sans gulped but instead didn’t answer. “put it on my tab grillbz.” he’d said and teleported out of there.

He’d spent that night up, thinking about what she was doing there with Muffet, but she kept secrets well and if she didn’t tell you’d never know. He had already crossed her several times and that’s a lesson he’d rather not have to repeat unless her had to, he shivered at the thought.

Then Sans thought about how he saw Alphys’s post and how it led to her contacting Toriel to get the store to possibly cater to their party, when they were already having Muffet do it, and Toriel, knowing much better than to piss off said spider monster talked it over with Muffet with Alphys giving her a review. That’s how Sans found out that Muffet was actually going to suggest something similar as she was planning to get into a business partnership with Sweet Dream, and how she was having some of their product delivered for sampling. Which then led to Toriel requesting that someone go to the shop to buy some cakes.

Needless to say, Papyrus wanted to go, and Sans went along to to help get them. He looked up the shop on his phone and he whisked himself and Papyrus through a shortcut to the shop’s front door. There’s glass windows and cakes on display with the words “Sweet Dream” written on the awning above the shop which was a nice deep blue. They stepped into the shop.

“Wel--” some girl starts before she stops and stares at the two of them. “Oi, Maya you’re being rude!” A gruff voice says. Sans took a moment to look around the shop, there wasn’t anyone else there and there was a nice wooden floor and shelves behind the glass counter/display case, with a bookshelf on one wall to the side with some booths and some normal tables and chairs on the other, along with a station for milk, napkins, and straws.

“GREETINGS HUMANS WE HAVE COME TO PURCHASE YOUR CONFECTIONS AT THE REQUEST OF HER MAJESTY!” Papyrus says. The girl, “maya”, winces at his volume, but the guy doesn’t seem fazed at all. Papyrus walks right up to the guy behind the counter, looking at the cakes in the display. “What can i do ya for big guy?” he asks, highly amused. Sans can see his name tag reads, “Herman”. He’s an older looking guy than “Maya”. “what takes the cake?” he says and the guy laughs as Papyrus screeches, “SANS DO NOT CORRUPT THE HUMANS WITH YOUR JOKES!!” “i dunno bro. they’re pretty sweet if you ask me.” he responds with a wink and finger guns. Even the girl groans as the guys laughs, “A funny bones kinda guy huh? I like it. Oi JACK!” Another younger guy in a chef’s outfit comes out the back door. 

“Yeah, Herman? What’s up?” He doesn’t seem fazed by them at all. “What do we got left?” Herman asks. “Well...” Jack lists off, what they have in the back, as the girl looks on. “U-um guys? What’s going o--AHH!” a timid voice screams. “Natalie!” Maya says to the timid girl. “Woah woah, girl it’s ok we just got some skeletons, chill out.” JAck says as Maya glares and takes Natalie to the back.

“Is That Human Going To Be Alright?” Papyrus asked. Herman answered, “Oh yeah don’t worry, she’s just shy and needs to get out more. Now about your order, Jack can you box the cakes while I get the pastries?” “Sure thing.” Jack said before disappearing into the back, and an “OW.” could be heard and some muffled voices. “uh...they ok?” Sans says, pointing to the back door, which Herman just waves off.

“Yeah, Boss’ll straighten them out, ah F*ck I forgot that guy was doing deliveries today, sorry guys mind if I give you some of our other pastries to substitute what we don’t have. We got a lot of big deliveries today and our delivery guy had to take a bunch of our stock for them.” he asked Sans.  
“no skin off my nose, bud.” he said. “SANSSS!!” Papyrus screeched.

Jack came back, looking somewhat roughed up. Herman whistled, “Maya, rattle you bones, kid?” he winked at Sans and Sans snorted, liking him more and more as the minutes passed. Jack didn’t say anything and just placed the boxes on the counter and went back through the door again. “Yeesh she got him good then, alright then boys your total is...” And they paid. Papyrus insisted on carrying the bags and nearly ran into the door in his excitement, but he managed to open it and start running down the street.

Herman and Sans laughed. “Your brother is quite the character.” he says. “yeah, he is.” Sans commented fondly. “see you around, bud.” “Sure thing.” Herman said as he left the store, but as the door was closing he heard, “Oi BOSS! When’s - - - - - getting back from his deliveries?” Sans faltered a step but managed to keep walking and took a shortcut.

He popped out in an alley across from Muffet’s shop, and leaned against the wall. That was incredibly stupid of him to just take a shortcut here, when he wasn’t sure th--he looked out into the street and sure enough, there was a white truck with the Sweet Dream logo on the side parked near Muffet’s shop. He could also see the human standing in the middle of the shop, with Muffet circling him and one of her eyes caught his and she winked at him.

He watched them talk, well he mostly watched the human, who never really moved, not even when Muffet’s spiders were crawling all over him. He just didn’t understand this human. He was certainly a fighter, if his skills from the picnic were anything to go by, he didn’t talk, much like Frisk, but unlike Frisk he just seemed...silent, even though Sans knew he could talk. He was one of the tallest humans he had ever seen as well, taller than even Papyrus and his brother wasn’t short by any means! His back was broad and he held himself in a kind of calm manner, but he stood slightly hunched over, as if trying to make himself smaller.

He was heading out the door and turned towards the truck when he suddenly stopped and whipped his head towards the alley and Sans took a shortcut to Grillby’s. The bar was much like the original back in the Underground. As soon as he walked through the doors, he’s greeted in the usual fashion of “SANS!!” with cheers and hoots and barks, depending on which monsters are there. He gives them all a wave and then takes his place on the barstool in the middle of the bar, but facing the windows instead of Grillby.

He watched the truck roll by and watched the human double-take at him before disappearing from sight. There was a crackle behind him and Sans turned around to face Grillby, his head tilted to the side in question. “the usual grillbz.” He’d said and just spent his time stewing in his own thoughts.

Now everything had come full circle. Sans covered his sockets with his arms, hidden by the loose blue sleeves were his marks, **SANS!!!** And **Why do you smile?** He lifted his arms and pushed back his sleeves to look at them. He hadn’t met the human yet. The human with his words. There were so many of them on the surface. He still didn’t have the time to go try to find them, he hadn’t even told Papyrus. He knew he was still afraid, of the RESETs, of even LOADs, but it had already been over a year, the longest run since. He’d have to see how far they’d go.

How far they could go. Sans was _PATIENT_ after all, he could wait. He dropped his arms over his sockets again and tried to sleep. 

\- - - -

Papyrus was worried, he was deep in thought, pacing back and forth in his room. He’s not entirely sure how he ended up in his room, in bed past his bedtime with no story and not going through the proper bed-time procedures!! He was even wide awake, if not for a strange pounding skull-ache. So he went downstairs, but it being late at night, everyone was asleep, so he just got himself a glass of milk and went back to his room, changing into his pajamas, save his gloves, and then started pacing the floor, trying to figure out what had happened that led up to this point.

Then he heard shuffling from the next room, Sans was probably there. He debated whether or not to go see his brother. Sans had been distant lately, he’d been getting better since they left the Underground--well maybe not the first few weeks, but he was opening up little by little. Now he’s closing up again and he knows Sans knows he’s starting to notice. Sans was always attuned to his needs, attuned to him. They were soulmates after all! Papyrus rubbed a gloved hand over his arm, a nervous habit he picked up over the years.

Halloween was coming up and Frisk had told them about the holiday months ago, and Papyrus had been secretly working on his costume ever since. It would fit his greatness or his name wasn’t THE GREAT PAPYRUS! NYEH HEH HEH!!! A smile brighten his skull for a moment before it dipped back down to a slight frown. His thoughts traveled back to Sans, ever since the human had been to the house his brother had been distant, irritable, quiet. He didn’t crack as many puns as before, if only to annoy him or get him going. Sans still laughed at his reactions, which was good!

It’s just that...the human...Papyrus got a fluttering feeling in his bones when he thought of them. A human even taller than he was! Normally, he towered over most humans, but few came close to his height let alone surpassed it. They were taller than her Majesty, but not quite his Majesty’s. They had deep, dark eyes and they easily fought without tiring, defending him from those mean humans and---! Papyrus felt his skull warm up and he shook his head to clear the thoughts.

He plopped down on his race car bed. Her Majesty, Frisk, and Himself were perfectly fine with the human and that her Majesty had invited them to their Halloween party, despite it being at the grease trap of Grillby’s. However, Sans didn’t seem happy with the idea, even though he smiled and agreed to it. Alphys and Asgore were fine with it as well, if not with some caution on his majesty’s part and some strange nervous reaction from Alphys, which had her mumbling and typing something on her phone with that weird glare of her glasses. Undyne was all for it, wanting to spar with the human since she didn’t get a chance to ask last time.

The human, according to Alphys worked as a delivery human for a cake shop called “Sweet Dream”, as suggested by the post Alphys put on the Undernet. And apparently, Muffet had also been working business deals with the shop so naturally, when the Queen suggested He went to go procure confections to try for the party. The humans were quite nice, but Sans had already ruined one human with his puns!!!...NYEH! He carried everything, since his lazybones brother disappeared, probably to Grillby’s, while he went home.

Once he got home with the cakes, they were immediately consumed by all present, he had a bit of everything and all of it was sweet and good, but then he doesn’t remember what happened after he ate. He simply woke up in his room with a pounding skull-ache, wondering what had happened. Actually now that he thought about it, Sans had warned him off sugary foods multiple times when he was a baby bones.

And though Papyrus knew it was unhealthy, Papyrus couldn’t help himself! They were so good! Fluffy, and light and sweet and--! He coughed, composing himself. He knew better now. He’d be alright come next time he was tempted by sugary confections! NYEH HEH! His thoughts still traveled back to the human. Papyrus couldn’t think of what Sans had against him. Papyrus had explained to him that the human saved him, but all he got in response was, “i just don’t know pap. I can feel he’s trouble. I feel it in my bones.” Papyrus had screeched and run off in exasperation.

He looks back down at his gloves and slowly pulls them off, setting them aside to look at his radii. The words, **i’ll take care of you. i promise.** and **I think you’re pretty great.** stared back at him. Sans’s words gave him a rush of affection and happiness, while the other gave him a feeling of importance and hope. He traced the words carefully with his phalanges, but he felt a bit sad when he looked at them as well.

He didn’t have many chances to go looking for his other soulmate with his training with Undyne and his patrols. He was really self-conscious about it as well, since he knew what Sans had to go through in the Underground, raising him by himself, taking on jobs so he could go to school, even though Sans was really smart! His brother always seem to be tired, the shadows under his sockets seemed permanent sometimes. He put on a smile anyway, just for him, trying to get him not to worry, but he knew. 

Sans hid behind the smiles and the jokes, so he wouldn’t have to worry about him. He slowly caught on over the years, but he played along with his brother’s scheme and he took care of Sans too. He did chores around the house, learned to cook, gave Sans a reason to have the smile he etched onto his face become more genuine, more real. So Papyrus played the part of the oblivious younger brother.

If it got his brother to smile, really smile, then he’d do anything. He bantered with his brother to get him to laugh, he took care of him because he knew he had to they only had each other, he worked hard with Undyne so Sans wouldn’t have to worry, he did his best to prove to Sans he wasn’t a babybones anymore, but he felt as if he’s failed Sans somehow, anyway.

He isn’t sure when exactly, since he doesn’t remember a lot from his time as a babybones, except for Sans, but his brother changed. He was much more open and expressive before and then, he started hiding. Papyrus noticed more and more as he grew up that Sans hid a lot from him, trying to protect him, like he promised him. He knew it affected his brother. That promise. His promise. He doesn’t know exactly what happened, but something happened. 

Sans...had 1 HP, his ATK and DEF were 1 as well, yet despite those Papyrus knew his brother was strong; strong and yet so weak at the same time. Sans had nightmares, he’d wake up screaming and his magic flew things around the room or summoned his Gaster Blasters, which technically Papyrus wasn’t supposed to know about, even though he had his own. He doesn’t know where the names came from, but he knows that’s what they are.

There’s a lot of things Papyrus knows that Sans doesn’t know he knows, even with the two of them being soulmates. He knows about the Blasters, about Sans’s role as the Judge, about his behavior. (He even knew he was a TERRIBLE cook, but tried his best anyway. He’s improving he thinks.) He knows Sans is still hiding things from him, particularly about their parents--Sans had promised him to tell him eventually. He knows Sans and Frisk and even Flowey seem to share secrets even he does not know. Not that he could talk to Flowey much, since the flower never seemed to want to leave Frisk’s room since being “grounded” there indefinitely, since what had happened Underground with him nearly killing all of them. Papyrus already forgave him though, he was being good so far!..if not a bit quiet and reserved.

He and Sans had much more in common than the two of them seemed to know, despite them not liking each other very much. Papyrus was sure that if they talked things out they could be the best of friends! Then again, they’re so alike in the ways that they DON’T want to talk, which sometimes causes him to want to scream and yell and confront them, but he’s fully aware they might just shut him out more if he pushed.

He’s has his fears, as well. He doesn’t want Sans to be upset or angry or disappointed, but he knows he can’t keep all of his secrets forever, stars Undyne already knew about his second mark! He knows she’s disappointed, even if a little that he hasn’t told Sans yet. He wasn’t a babybones, but he knew he acted like one--was still acting like one. He clutched himself tight as depressing thoughts filled his skull. Despite his proficiency at magic and combat, Undyne never actually made him a guard member, he hasn’t gotten his driver’s license yet after taking the exam at least 6 times now, he doesn’t have a job yet, and he FEELS SO...SO...so...He felt the tears he didn’t know were falling out of his sockets. He breathes deep and slowly uncurling himself.

He looks over to his costume, sitting at his desk. He’d set aside his action figures so he could use the space to make his costume. He’s almost finished with it and maybe working on it would get his mind off of things for a while. He reached to put back on his gloves but catches sight of his right radius. **I think you’re pretty great.** The words spoke back his soul, comforting and soothing. He laughed a bit to himself at how much of a silly skeleton he was being. He wiped the tears away with his sleeves. Then he slapped his own cheekbones to snap himself out of it.

He couldn’t let his fears stop him, or he wouldn’t be the GREAT PAPYRUS, coolest brother, aspiring spaghettor, and BEST FRIEND of all his friends! If he was sad, who would cheer up his brother with hugs and banter? Or spar with Undyne when she needed to vent? Or cook with Her Majesty when the house was too quiet? Or sit with his Majesty and tend to flowers when the weather was nice? Who would make spaghetti? Who would talk with Flowey when Frisk went to school? Or have sleepovers with Frisk? 

He picked up his costume and got to work, but left his gloves off. He had to be _BRAVE_. Or who would protect everyone on Halloween?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anybody else think or have thought that Papyrus is actually much smarter and observant/ mature than he acts/looks? No? Yes? Maybe?...ok.
> 
> Moving right along I want you, my readers to help me make decisions on the following:
> 
> 1) Whether to split Boss and Doggo's story into part of the series, like i had planned, or to leave it as a side-plot in this story. (just a "yay or nay" would be fine, but sure go ahead and explain yourself if you want to)
> 
> 2) Any guesses on who is going to be what on "Halloween"? I'd like to hear what you guys think, particularly for - - - - -, Boss, Pap, Sans, and Frisk. Tell what you think they'll be (please be specific: for example, "Frisk is going to be Chara for Halloween!!) or what you want to see (i MAY draw some of these out and post them on my deviantart actually). I have my ideas already, but i want to hear your opinions please.
> 
> 3)if you're fine with me not updating BTS for maybe another few weeks or so and let me catch up my other fics a bit more or HELL NO I'VE BEEN WAITING PLS UPDATE IT!! >.<
> 
> Stay Determined. (I look forward to hearing from all of you)


	11. The Life of the Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "This is Halloween, Halloween, Halloween. HALLOWEEN HALLOWEEN"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> too long. much too long. my soul be damned far too long.  
> LIFE is busy, frustrating, ever-changing, amazing, beautiful, and terrifying.  
> much has happened, what else has changed?  
> here ya go guys.
> 
> I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE REFERENCED FRANCHISES.

You were literally dragged around by Boss for the following days leading up to the party, given when the two of you weren't working. That was a whole other thing too, so many orders for EVERYTHING: pumpkin spice cupcakes and cinnamon cookies, devil’s chocolate cakes, Halloween themed pastries: eclairs filled with strawberry jam, pumpkin, spider, vampire, themed donuts, and such and Boss’s business partnership with Muffet helped a lot during those days. Her spiders were literally welcome helping han--err legs? Their spider donuts, cider and other goodies were nearly flying off the shelves! Speaking of the spiders, Boss had made it clear to each and every one of them that you working as the “Master Baker”, as Boss had put it and you nearly whapped the back of her head for, was to be kept confidential, even to Muffet or she would figure out how Muffet made her pastries and make them all the main ingredient.

You had never seen so many collective heads nod so fast at her “Boss” voice. Boss was downright terrifying when angry and you’re grateful you’ve only had to experience her anger only once in your life. You could tell she was stressing as the days wore on, leading up to the party. Everybody was working hard, the spiders, your co-workers, you, even Boss, making deals and calls while you made deliveries and prepared everything at night. How you found time to sleep was beyond you, but when you got home in the early hours of the morning you simply collapsed onto your couch just to get up hours later and do it all again.

Boss took you and Fenrir off shopping one day, dragging you and Fenrir around shop after shop trying out costumes for you and her, we'll mostly her since most of what was available wasn't that compatible with your height. That was until you went into this one out of the way craft store hidden by the monster district, and you’d never seen Boss more excited as she all but flew around the shop, collecting things and then paying for them, while you carried the bags. She told you with this bright sparkle in her eye that she had IDEAS and you simply gave in and went with it. No one stopped Boss when she set her mind to something. And that leads you back to now.

You sat on the floor of your room, staring at the clothes that made up your “costume” for the night. When it came down to it, it was either you going as a skeleton or a haunt (*cough* dementor *cough*). You wanted something to cover your whole body, but Boss was hell-bent on making you a skeleton this time, for obvious reasons. You tried your best to fight her on it, but ultimately you gave up, as she pulled both rank and her infamous pouty face and begging on you, but you made sure SHE had to wear whatever you picked out for her.

And that was that, but you gave her some wiggle-room with your pick for her and she hadn’t shown you the finished product yet, as you were still in your room, staring down your costume. How the hell Boss even pulled it together you had no idea, but of course Boss would go for this kind of costume for you... She even did your face!. You were stuck being a skeleton, black and white face makeup and she even did the exposed parts of your arms and legs! 

You decide you won’t get anywhere just staring at your costume and start putting it all on. You slipped on the long fingerless gloves first, then the shirt, which clung to your torso, then the pants, all of it was skeleton print. And you meant ALL of it. It was subtle though, being black on black, unless you looked in the right lighting. It wasn’t that different from what you used to wear.

Then, you finally slipped on the ragged-torn black cloak, pulling the hood/cloth mask over your head. Thank the stars she let you compromise, and at least wear the cloak you had from years and years ago. You looked in the mirror again and found a ghostly dark figure looking back, but if you looked close enough you could still see your face. That left one last thing...You picked up the delicate flower crown off of your pillow, made of white lilies and white carnations, bound together with a black silk ribbon. You had made it yourself, with many pins, some blood, and no shortage of effort. You placed it on your head and tied the ribbon, before stepping out of your room.

Fenrir and Boss perked up to meet you. Boss had dyed all of Fenrir’s fur black, she had bribed him with A5 beef to let her do it, and had the fur around his eyes, made to look like a white mask with bright red markings. She said something about him being a “beowulf” or something. Boss wore a collar, ears, which twitched as if they were real, and a corset of some kind, along with a torn shirt and tank top and a sash with cargo pants and sneakers. She also wore a false broad short-blade strapped to her waist, along with a tail, she’d clip to her belt loop later.

**~This NEVER happened.~**

She also held an incredibly realistic looking sword, the hilt looked to be made of small skulls and vertebral columns and the blade no more than two inches thick and double edged. She even handed you a belt for it to be strapped to your side and a simple black and silver scabbard. You gave a long sigh before strapping the blade to your waist-belt. She smiled devilishly at you and winked, presenting, yet another weapon to you...a scythe. A thin curved blade and a handle like it was made from a carved, dead tree. You took it and stood it at your side, you were several inches taller than it was. Both weapons were surprisingly heavy for props, but Boss interrupted your analyzation of the weapons saying, “Alright, car loaded check, costumes Check, it’s 20 minutes to 6pm and we’re golden!!!!” she fist-pumps into the air. Fenrir grumbled.

“(f/n)...where did you even find time to get these?” you asked, holding the scythe in one hand and the sword hilt in the other. “I bought them at a shop. They go with this whole thing, you know?” She waves her hand generally over you, before heading out the door, to her car. You shared a look with Fenrir and the two of you followed after her, but stopped at your door to look around the neighborhood. 

The houses were already getting trick-or-treaters, jack-o-lanterns near front doors, fake webs in the windows and fences, with fake giant spiders, pin ups of Frankenstein, skeletons, Dracula, or mummies on the sides of houses... It was already twilight, kids in various costumes ranging from fairies to vampires to actual homemade Monster costumes: Vegetoids, Whinsums, Madjicks, etc. were already out and about. It was hard to tell who was human and who was a Monster. That brought a smile to your face, under your “cloak”.

Boss honked the car-horn and you and Fenrir, turn your attention to her standing by her car. “Come on you lazybones!” she grinned wickedly at her own joke. You rolled your eyes under your costume and made your way to her car, parked across the street. The taps of the scythe, seemed to echo in your ears and Fenrir’s ears twitched and he turned and took a defensive stance and started growling at two people, who you didn’t seem to notice were there a second ago. Fenrir, nearly snarled, scaring the few children around them into running away. A woman in a black velvet cloak with a silver skull clasp stood next to what looked like a man dressed as a Reaper, who was without a scythe.

**“Trick- Or-Treat.”** The Reaper says. And immediately your nerves are on high alert, there’s a tingling in your skin and your heart pounds. Boss makes her way over and even she seems unnerved by the pair. “G-good evening, sir, miss, is there something we can help you with?” she says hesitantly. “Yes, actually, the props that man has there are actually my...friend’s here. He only ever made those and they got stolen a while back and we’ve been looking for them for a while.” the woman says, tense. Boss frowns, “I bought those at a Halloween shop a few days ago...”

**“Strange.”** The Reaper comments. **“May I have those back then?”** he asks you directly. “Hey--” You block her with a hand, “- - - - -....” You share a look with her and shake your head at her, she nods, trusting you. You walk forward and hand off the scythe to the Reaper, who takes it with skeletal hands. When you hand it off you almost feel a chill running down your spine. You think you see something flash in his sockets, a cold icy blue. Then you turn to the woman and hand her the sword, scabbard and all, which she slings over her shoulder.

Suddenly, everything around you goes quiet. You turn around and see people moving, but you can’t seem to hear anything they’re saying. You see Boss blink several times, as if dazed, before heading into her car and sitting in the driver’s seat. Fenrir, however, walks up to you and rubs his side against you. You calm down from your panic, and finally breathe, crouching down and hugging him close to you. “You’re not quite what you seem, either.” The woman comments. 

**“Susan, do not tease the man. He has yet to grow into himself.”** The Reaper says, the blade of the scythe now glowing blue. He turns his attention to both of you again. **“Not just any human could hold both of these and come away unscathed. And not just any dog could see through our illusions either. This world is certainly different."**

You hear the clip-clops of horse hooves behind you and turn to find a magnificent white horse, standing behind you. He knickers at you and you calmly stroke his head, feeling almost surreal. **“Binky does not take to just anyone, either.”** The Reaper is already astride “Binky”, when you look up again. You step out of the way instinctively, Fenrir following you like a shadow, lowly grumbling. “Grandfather...” the woman, “Susan”, says exasperated. She walks up and hauls herself up onto the horse as well, using your shoulder as support, her hands under her black leather gloves are strong, you note.

****

“Watch yourself.” she warns you. **“Good day, - - - - -. I’ll come for you eventually. OH. And Happy Halloween."** That wasn’t creepy at all...And they’re gone, fading away into the wind like nothing was there. All of the sound came back to you and you blinked out of your stupor.

****

**~This NEVER happened.~**

****

You're just outside the passenger door of Boss's car, and you have the nagging feeling that you’ve forgotten something, so you turn to Fenrir. “Did we forget anything?.” you asked. Fenrir gruffed at you and you took that as a negative. You knelt down next to Fenrir and Fenrir presses his face to yours. You know he knows you need the reassurance for what’s to happen. You stand back up when Boss rolls down the window to say, “Come on, - - - - -! We’re going to be late!!!” 

****

You still have the nagging feeling you’ve forgotten something on way to Grillby’s, as Boss makes her way through the streets, honking at jay-walking kids. When Boss parks, it’s as if you’re on auto-pilot, you’re vaguely aware when she stacks boxes in your arms and Fenrir rubbing against your side, sticking closer to the two of you. Boss carries bags for herself and the two of you walk several blocks before finding yourselves in front of Grillby’s. You snap out of it when Fenrir leaves your side to stay by Boss.

****

She’s hesitating and then she looks down to Fenrir, “It’s now or never, Fen.” Then she opens the door to the bar and you stick closer behind her, like a looming shadow as she says, “Hello! The humans and their wolf have arrived!” with as much enthusiasm as she can muster. There are the Undyne and Alphys, directly ahead of the two of you, Undyne in some black jacket like a knight, with red shorts and white and red shoes and red socks, he hair is down and styled differently, and Alphys in a red dress and a gold crown on her head. Grillby stands behind the bar, still wearing the same outfit, only changing his bow-tie to a normal tie, several other monsters you don’t recognize don’t seem to be wearing costumes...However, the two skeleton monsters beside Undyne and Alphys are.

****

Sans is dressed similarly to a grim reaper in a dark cloak, with a rope-belt and a scythe at his side. Papyrus is dressed in a blue cloaked hood, and light blue spandex, and blue boots, which is somehow oddly fitting...And then there’s the dog monster poker table, and you immediately recognize the one with the spiked collar and mask is Doggo, as he all but jumps up in his chair. “Dearies~!” Muffet calls, stepping out of one of the booths, she’s wearing a different gothic lolita dress and a bonnet and stocking and mary janes, a gothic Little Miss Muffet. You smile in amusement behind the cloth mask.

****

She comes up to the two of you and takes some bags from Boss and gives her a hug. “This way, we laid out some tables for food, you two.” she directs and you follow her to the food table, where a lot has already been spread: pie, sushi, spaghetti, burgers, fries, spider donuts. You place the boxes in any open spaces. When you turn back around, Doggo is now nervously standing behind you, tail tucked under his legs, his ears flat on his head and his front paws held in front of his chest. You tower over his cowering form, he only comes about chest height to you, but he’s curled in on himself. However, you’re sure he’s at least a good head taller than Boss.

****

You cock your head at him and he zeroes in on your face, his nose twitching. His jaw opens several times but no words come out. “- - - - -...” Boss tugs on your sleeve and gains both your and Doggo’s attention. The wolf ears on her head twitched in agitation, but you seem to understand her choice of costume now. “Is there a problem?” she says, narrowing her eyes at the dog monster, who whines, clearly upset. Her hand is shaking as she’s grips onto your arm, giving away her nerves.

****

You poke Boss’s cheek and she looks up at you. The two of you share hard stares of silent conversation before she deflates, her own ears drooping. She gives a long sigh before looking back up at Doggo, a tired expression on her face. “I’m sorry. That was rude and uncalled for.” She holds out her hand to Doggo and says, “Please excuse my late introduction. I’m (F/n) (L/n).” Doggo looks from her hand to her face and eagerly takes her hand. “I’m Doggo.” You shift awkwardly on you feet and move to step away, but Boss let’s go of Doggo’s paw and latches onto your arm again ,preventing you from leaving. 

****

“This is - - - - -. He’s my best friend and this guy is his companion Fenrir.” When she addressed Fenrir she knelt by him and gave him a few loving rubs, trying to deal with her anxiety. Doggo seemed intrigued by Fenrir and by the little Annoying Dog coming up to him out of nowhere and barking up at him, red stripes in his fur and a silver disc on his back--how it stayed on you had no idea. Another larger white dog came up to Fenrir and they sniffed each other before the medium white dog barked and then jumped back into a huge set of black armor. 

****

Two dogs in cloaks came closer and said, “Your dog...” “Is certainly...” “Different, human.” They exchanged finishing the sentence. “I am Dogamy and this is my wife..” “Dogaressa. You just met our friends...” “Doggo and Greater Dog...” “Lesser Dog, come say hello to the humans.” They last dog monster in silver armor comes up to you, sniffing loudly, and getting really close to you. Fenrir growls and Lesser Dog backs off, whimpering, which causes Dogamy and Dogaressa to growl in response. 

****

There’s tension in the air now, along with the sound of growling dogs, Fenrir has taken a defensive stance beside you, his hackles raised and baring teeth, his golden eyes flashing. You feel stares at the back of your head and look behind you to see Sans looking at you with one glowing blue eye again. You place your hand on Fenrir’s head and kneel down beside him. “It’s fine, Fen. No danger. She meant no harm. Calm down.” You rubbed his head several times to calm him and he grumbled under your hands.

****

“Sorry. He’s...protective.” You say up to the dog monsters, who looked over you curiously before smiling and then roughly barking and growling at Fenrir, who grumbles and growls in some kind of language?...You think. “They’re speaking Dog.” Doggo supplies. You look over and find him looking over you too. Boss is looking between the two of you. You feel...out of place here. You wave at Boss to get her attention before jerking your thumb towards the bar and giving jer a gentle push to stay with the dog monsters. Before you leave though, you step forward to lean in towards Doggo. “Take care of her.” you warn, you see Doggo’s ears go flat and he shakes his head up and down rapidly. With a decisive nod you turn away to walk towards the bar.

****

Muffet walks back over to you, she seems highly amused at what just happened. She latches onto your arm and cuddles into your side. “That was brilliant dearie.” You nod at her and she giggles. You feel faint crawling on your shoulders and find several of Muffet’s spiders have found their way to you. They seem to be wearing little bow-ties and some have distinct markings this time. 

****

The two of you walk over to two open barstools, where you offer your hand to Muffet, and she takes it as you help her into her stool. “Such a gentleman~” she coos at you, giving your cloth covered cheek a pat. You sit down beside her and find yourself next to Alphys, who you wave to. She shyly waves back, before a crackle gain your attention and Grillby stood before you. “Grillby dearie this is - - - - -. - - - - -, this is Grillby. I believe i was told that the two of you met at the picnic?” Muffet supplies. 

****

The fire monster, is staring straight at you, or it at least feels that way as he doesn’t really have eyes, but you stick your hand out for a shake anyway. Grillby grips your hand in a firm handshake and gives you a nod and you return it. “Ahuhuhu~” Muffet giggles. “His first drink is on me tonight Grillby.” she says and you whip your head toward her, nearly throwing off your flower crown. She looks over to you and gives you a smile, “I never did thank you for the time you helped my spiders did I, dearie~?”

****

You open your mouth, but a drink is placed in front of you. It’s in a tall thin glass. It transitions from orange at the bottom to an almost deep blue at the top and the rim is covered in sugar. You blink at the drink and then back to Grillby, who’s still standing in front of you, flames low and flickering. “Ohhh~ A new drink Grillby?” Muffet teases. His flames go up and crackle and sparks fly from his head at her teasing. You gently slip off your flower crown and pull back your cloth hood.

****

This earns you several gasps. . . . SH*T you forgot about your FACE!! Stupid! You move to put back your hood when a hand stops you. “No, no - - - - -. We aren’t offended or anything, just surprised. Whoever did that is very talented.” Muffet hurriedly says. You look down at the bar, contemplating. You nearly forgot about your make-up and you chanced a look down the bar and found Sans staring holes into you.

****

Someone cleared their throat behind you and you turned and found Papyrus there, a faint orange hue on his cheekbones. “H-HUMAN!” Was he sweating? “I-IT IS GOOD TO SEE YOU! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM PLEASED TO SEE YOU HAVE FOUND YOUR INNER SKELETON!!” He recovered. You saw Boss giggling behind you and you glared at her until she turned and paid attention to Doggo’s card game again.

****

You gave Papyrus an apologetic smile and look at his costume further, blue hood, purple boots and spandex shorts, belts crossed over the chest, purple gloves. Papyrus seems nervous under your stare until you give him a thumbs up and a smile. His skull flushes with orange and he fiddles with his gloved hands some more before seeming to come to terms with something in his head as he smiles at you with a determined expression. 

****

“FRIEND. HAVE YOU EATEN YET?” You shake your head at him, before gesturing back towards your drink, your flower crown resting by it. Papyrus seems to grow excited as his sockets somehow sparkle and he puts his hands together as if to beg. “THEN WOULD YOU LIKE TO TRY MY FAMOUS SPAGHETTI? THE FOOD HERE IS MUCH TOO GREASY FOR MY TASTES--NO OFFENSE GRILLBY--AND UNDYNE AND I WORKED REALLY HARD TO CREATE OUR BEST FRIENDSHIP SPAGHETTI!!!” “Wooo you tell ‘im PAPS!!” You heard Undyne cry.

****

You nodded and Papyrus screamed out in joy, causing everyone else in the bar to laugh at his excitement, as you proceeded to walk back to the bar and placing the flower crown upon your head and taking your drink with a wave to Muffet and Grillby. Undyne was giving you a wicked grin and Alphys gave you a nervous smile. You passed over Sans quickly and walked back to Papyrus, who proceeded to grab your arm and drag you over to the buffet table.

****

You pretend to not notice Boss’s knowing smile as she whispers something into Doggo’s ear, who in turn grins wolfishly at you. You give a look to the Annoying Dog as it fall into steps behind you. However you don’t notice Fenrir, who had followed the Annoying Dog, stop behind your retreating forms, golden eyes locked with Sans’s voided sockets.

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welp here i go again. expect things to happen, only question is when.
> 
> leave me comments, they are both encouraging and guilt-tripping.
> 
> Stay Determined.


	12. A Magical Fright Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the party before and during
> 
> it's pretty boring until the end

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been re-writing this, but also stuff got in the way
> 
> I appreciate all the support and patience guys. ~750 kudos, 130+ bookmarks, 8950+ hits
> 
> If you weren't waiting for this it's here finally.
> 
> Enjoy.

_He was in the void, but he felt a chill, a deep, dark chill. Then suddenly there was an explosion of light, colors streaked before his eyes and he was suddenly in space. His sockets filled with wonder as stars shot past him and meteors left their vapor trails behind. He feels a tap on his shoulder and looks to find Papyrus smiling down at him, his sockets twinkling with stars, not unlike the ones around them._

_He felt a pull, a sort of suction behind him and Papyrus instantly brightened up, his smile growing wider as he flew past Sans towards a dark silhouette, but it wasn’t him. Papyrus opened his arms wide and Sans watched as the silhouette opened it’s arms in response and swallowed his brother into itself. He felt his magic stir to life in fury and his eye lit up and he too flew towards the figure with a hand outstretched and a Gaster Blaster at the ready. It, too, opened his arms to receive him and just before he made contact with it, he sees a bright yellow star at its center._

_In that star was Papyrus cradling another star flickering blue, orange, and green. Another star appeared before him, just above his SOUL, cerulean, purple and red. And then he’s swallowed by darkness, pulled infinitely towards his brother, they collide and their stars fuse together into a sparkling light of six colors. Papyrus holds him close before they loosen up to cradle the bright star between them._

_Then a tiny golden star floats over to join them, the dark figure pooling out of the darkness around them, but their figure becomes clearer and clearer as they get closer. He watches their legs and torso come into view as they get closer, they stars pulsing light and magic, gravitating towards each other. Just before they touch, Sans sees a sad smile, reflecting into eyes like suns, before everything bursts into a blinding light and he feels a flash of searing heat._

Sans wakes up in his bed with a drop back onto his mattress and several thuds and thumps as the contents of his room reacquaint themselves to the floor. He’d actually been floating above his mattress and everything in his room had been floating around him. 

Then something flops onto his skull. He peels it off to find his “costume” a cloak he’d found at one of the costume shops around the park he ran his hotdog stand in. He even got a rope belt and a skull “buckle” for the knot. He slips it over his sleep clothes and shortcuts himself into the kitchen where Papyrus is already dressed in his costume, some blue and purple ensemble from some show, and making breakfast.

He turns upon his arrival. “SANS YOU’RE UP EARLY!!! ONLY YOU WOULD WAKE UP FOR A HOLIDAY ON THE SURFACE FOR SUCH A HOLIDAY AS THIS.” He says with false contempt and Sans lazily smiles at him. He thinks about the dream, but pushes the thought to the back of his mind.

“nah bro, we’re skeletons. halloween is a skele-ton of fun for us. no bones about it. see? I’m already going to be the life of the party.” “OH MY GOD SANS, NO!!! WHY?!!!” Sans laughed at his brother’s antics. Toriel, Asgore and Frisk came into the kitchen next. Toriel in a classic witch hat and robes in a deep purple, Asgore in similar fashion of purple cloak and even a wooden staff with some of his flowers bound with cord to the top, and Frisk...

Sans stared at Frisk as they entered, not hearing Toriel’s or Asgore’s greetings as Papyrus gave them their breakfast. Frisk was wearing a blue, purple, green and yellow striped sweater beneath a small cape with a crown of golden flowers wrapped around the band of their witch’s hat and Flowey was wrapped around their neck, instead of in a flower pot. He glared at Sans, but just curled himself more into Frisk.

Frisk looked sheepish enough that he only sighed as Papyrus swept them up and away. Sans shortcutted to the couch and lay down.The day hadn’t even started and he was already wanted a nap. He listened in on the conversation in the kitchen though, sockets closed.

“Papyrus, dear. Are you sure you, Undyne, Alphys, and Sans can handle all of the food for tonight?” Toriel asked. “OF COURSE YOUR MAJ--TORIEL--SANS AND I ARE FULLY CAPABLE FOR DELIVERING OUR HALLOWEEN CONFECTIONS TO GRILLBY’S.” Papyrus answered. “Are You Certain That You Do Not Need A Guard, Your Majesty?” he said in a more worried tone. “No Papyrus. Toriel and I are accompanying several other parents and their children. We’ll be fine.” Asgore said. “We’ve already discussed this with Undyne and her squad. There’s too many people out tonight. However, we will call if something...happens.” Toriel said.

There’s another pause before his brother exclaims, “YOU’RE RIGHT FRISK! NEVER FEAR FOR WE ARE HERE FOR YOU.” Sans smile tenses and his sockets open again. There hadn’t been many attacks since the one at the picnic, but he--they--knew that more was sure to come. His thoughts wandered back to the fight and the human.

When they’d locked eyes when he was at the bar and he in the truck. It gave him more of a shock then trying to scare the guy. His dark eyes widened and for the briefest of moments they seemed to shine a dark deep blue. And then what happened with his “boss”...He certainly didn’t endear himself to her either. She was protective of him, defensive.

And then there was also Papyrus, who had also came to his defense. Papyrus was like that with almost everyone trying to see the good in people...He dozed off by that point. He didn’t wake up when Papyrus screamed at him to, nor did he wake when Undyne and Alphys came to collect them, or when he was swept up by his brother and into a car. 

He only woke up when they got to Grillby’s. Undyne and Papyrus were already taking food from the car, which consisted of Papyrus and Undyne’s spaghetti, Alphys’s sushi, and various sodas and candies for later. Alphys was just getting out of the car when he woke. She was wearing a shining crown and a red dress.

Sans was scooped out of the car by his overly-excited brother, who had somehow managed to find his scythe to go with his costume. He was talking a mile a minute and Sans just grinned as Undyne matched his enthusiasm as she picked up Alphys.

“ALL RIGHT LET’S GET THIS HALLOWEEN THING STARTED!!” She yelled, bursting open the door, much to Grillby’s dismay. The crowd already in the bar exclaim, “Captain Undyne!” “SANS!” “Papyrus!” “Alphys!” Papyrus was laughing along. He and Alphys shared a grin as they were carted in.

He shortcuts himself to his seat at the bar, where Grillby is busy cleaning a glass. “My usual, grillbz.” he says. Undyne comes next with Alphys, “Surprise me, G!” Papyrus comes up next to Sans and says, “A milkshake for me, please.” While Grillby is getting their orders ready, Muffet turns from her place, several seats down the bar. She’s wearing a different dress than usual, longer sleeves and more frills and a hat to match.

“Ahuhuhu~” she laughs as she catches his stare. He sweats a little. He hasn’t seen her since he dodged her the other night. Her grin is almost malicious as she sips her drink, something purple and pink, rimmed with orange sugar. She doesn’t say anything, but continues to stare at him with at least one of her black eyes.

“Sans, the hell did you do to piss off Muffet?” Undyne whispers to him. He shrugs, looking back to Grillby as he sets down a ketchup bottle and his plate of a burger and basket of fries. He feels something crawling up his spine and to his skull.

A sign is held in front of his face. “Watch yourself.” is all it reads before it disappears. He looks back over the bar, but Muffet has seated herself in a private booth. He drinks his bottle and eats his food in a flash, but he still feels those eyes on him.

Before he knows it the door slams open and a woman in wolf ears and a woman yells out, “Hello! The humans and their wolf have arrived!” It’s her. “Boss”. Coming through the door behind her is a looming, cloaked figure, crowned in a ring of various white flowers, carrying loads of boxes.”Boss” quickly shoots a glare his way and a wayward glance to the left, before Muffet diverts her attention. 

He notices Doggo, sit straight up at attention at her voice. Sans watches as they interact. That dog? Wolf? from before has a confrontation with the LD, GD, Dogamy and Dogaressa, but the human resolves it. Then they come to the bar, leaving their “Boss” with Doggo, who immediately cozies up to her. He listens as Muffet and Grillby talk with the human. He’s surprised when they pull of their cloth mask to reveal skeletal make-up.

He hears a sharp intake of breath beside him and find Papyrus looking in awe, just as he was. It was impressive, and even more so when Muffet offered the guy a drink. Grillby even made him something new! What was it about this guy? He saw both Muffet and Grillby cast him glances, when the human wasn’t watching. 

He was too distracted to stop Papyrus from going over to them.

\- - - -

Papyrus drags the human over to the buffet table. His gloved hands clasp his and he feels how warm his hands are. He can almost feel the bones underneath all of the callouses he feels on his palm. He lets go, hoping the human will remain where they stand and prepares a plate of spaghetti for him. 

When he turns back around the human is smiling at him in thanks, placing down their drink and taking a few bites while Papyrus rubs his hands together and waits in anticipation. They chew several times, but seem to be looking at the ground in thought before swallowing and giving him a grin and a thumbs up. “NYEH HEH! VICTORY FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS!” He cheers. “Yeah!” he hears Undyne say, feeling her arm around his bony shoulders.

“Sup, punk? How you like Pap’s spaghetti?” The human gives them both another smile and thumbs up. “Awesome costume by the way. Matches Papyrus and Sans bones perfectly.” she says. Papyrus hears the slyness in her voice. They both freeze. Papyrus can feel his magic pool in his cheekbones and lights his skull orange. “Fuhuhuhuhu~” Undyne says, her smile turning impish, until she’s encased in blue and yanked away from Papyrus.

“What the hell Sans?!” Papyrus looks to his brother, who seems to have gone to sleep again. “That Lazybones...” He mutters. Undyne continues to grumble, but Alphys is soothing her with whispers into her fin. When he turns back around to face the human, they’re holding a plate with several slices of cake on it. 

“For Me, Friend?” He nods in response, but Papyrus notices them shaking a bit. He quickly takes the plate from the human and they go back to sipping their drink. He had already finished his spaghetti. “W-wowie...You Must Have Really Liked My Spaghetti! I Haven’t Seen Anyone Eat It As Fast As Sans Or Undyne!!” He stuttered out and then promptly stuck some cake into his mandible so he wouldn’t babble. Papyrus’s embarrassment was forgotten once he tasted the cake.

It was different from the confections from the shop previously. Those too were sweet and delicious, but this cake a bit of spice and something warm to it that he didn’t think he ever tasted. He saw the human’s grin widen at his reaction. He felt the stars in his sockets. He had finished the cake piece before he realized it. “That Was Amazing Friend! My Compliments To The Chef! NYEH HEH HEH!” 

There was a bout of laughter to the side of them and Papyrus turned towards the other human friend. The ears upon her head were perked and she smiled widely at him. She gave him a thumbs up before turning her attention back to Doggo. When he looked back he saw the human’s skeleton-painted face resembling the dark glare his brother wore when he was angry and that sent a slight shiver to go down his spine.

Before he can say anything however, the door to the bar opens and with it, the excited chatter of children. A mob of monster kids in various striped clothes makes their way through the door. Frisk is near the forefront of the stampede and they instantly make a bee-line for Papyrus. They’re wearing a witch’s hat and cape and hold a wooden wand in one hand and a jack-o -lantern candy bucket in the other. They smile as they jump for Papyrus and the kids instantly swarm him, talking all at once.

The human moves to give them room, but Papyrus sees a small mouse child walk right up to the human and tug on his cloak and he instantly looks down. Their beanie is black and has an orange pumpkin stitched into it, their scarf is orange and black, and a little pumpkin shirt completes the look. Their tiny hand is gripping his cloak and their ears are folded back slightly. They’re looking at him with big eyes filled with wonder. It makes Papyrus smile and he hears Frisk giggle in agreement.

The other kids seem to notice him and hide behind Papyrus’s legs, which he frowns slightly over. The human crouches down to address the child better, cocking his head in question. They shuffle their feet shyly. “u-um...M-mister Human...could you...tie my scarf again please?”They say in a rush and duck down a bit into their scarf in embarrassment. Papyrus wonders when the human could have met them, but rather than interrupting their moment he just watches with Frisk. The human’s eyes widen in surprise and he gives a little chuckle. 

He nods his head and take their tiny hand in his to twirl them around so he could work with their scarf. Papyrus watches as he dutifully ties the mouse child’s scarf into an elaborate bow, the ends not quite reaching the ground behind them, ensuring they wouldn’t trip over it. He gave them another gentle twirl so they faced him again. They were smiling wide and their dark eyes sone with stars. “Thank you Mister Human!” they said and ran back to the other kids. Frisk hopped down from Papyrus and leapt for the human just as he started to stand up and he nearly had to catch them mid-air.

They place both of their hands on his cheeks and smile brightly at him. “My child.” a familiar voice says, and Toriel makes her way towards them.The humans are swept up into her embrace. “It is good to see you - - - - -.” she says to him. The other human walks up behind her and says, “You sure are popular - - - - -.” There’s a devious look in her eyes. 

He huffs at her and place Frisk down. “Ms. Toriel, and I got to know each other while the kiddies were having their fun with you.” The other human teased further, giggling. She must have had something to drink, or inhaled too much of the dog treats that Doggo smoked...She was acting rather giddy and relaxed. The human looked pointedly at Doggo and he hurriedly snuffed out the dog treat he was smoking in a nearby ashtray. 

The human scowled at her and his canine huffed from behind her. Frisk immediately went to go greet him. They held no reservations about walking right up to the human’s canine and wrapping their arms around his neck and snuggling into his fur. Fortunately the human’s canine didn’t seem to mind all that much either. Papyrus still saw that slight startle of hesitation from Toriel though.  
He heard a click as the other human took a picture of the scene. “Oh, my child, would you mind sending that picture to me?” Toriel said pulling out her phone. “Sure lemme give you my number.” The two of the them dissolved into friendly banter. The human just sighed and finished there drink in one go, slipping his hood over his head and face and placing his flower crown back atop his head. The children, who were still hiding behind Papyrus’s legs peeked out further their curiosity winning over their apprehension.

“Friend? Are You Alright?” Papyrus asked, stepping over to the human, but still careful of the children. He nods his head, giving him a thumbs up. Frisk is suddenly by his side, munching on some of Papyrus’s spaghetti, while Flowey got an eye full of the human from his perch on their own crown of flowers around their hat. 

“What makes you so special the trash bag is so wound up about you?” he spits. The human regards Flowey for a moment before shrugging. Before Flowey can speak anymore, Frisk puts a forkful of spaghetti in his mouth. He reluctantly started chewing and Papyrus beamed at the two of them. However, Papyrus redirected his attention back to the human. They watched their other human friend and Toriel, talk over at a nearby both.

They suddenly go rigid and tense. He turns to the windows to see what they’re looking at, but he’s turned around by his brother. “Sans!” he says, but his brother looks very serious. Undyne is also by their side, looking equally serious. “Brother...Undyne What is wrong?” he says in a quieter voice. “There are humans outside bro.” “Where?” he whipps his skull towards the windows, mostly blocked by drunken monsters and noise.

The human is gone. “Bro--” Sans is also gone. Undyne is looking serious. “Stay here, Pap. Keep a socket out just in case.” she orders. He nods and salutes as Undyne moves over towards the Dog’s table. Papyrus watches over the children as they eat their snacks and food, on autopilot. His skull is racing with worry. What about Sans? Where did he go? What about the human? Where is the human?

His soul raced with worry and he felt a heavy feeling of dread settle in his ribcage. He had to see Sans---no the human--no Sans--no the human--FORGET IT BOTH OF THEM. Suddenly everything is quiet, but Papyrus is hyperaware of everything going on around him. Undyne is debriefing the dogs. The other human and Toriel are still talking. Gerson has stepped through the door and made a bee-line for Asgore. Drunken monsters were cheering and eating. Grillby and Muffet were staring at him. Papyrus had not realized he’d worked himself into hyperventilating until Alphys grabbed his gloved hands.

“--yrus! P-papyrus!” She calls his name, but he feels it. Magic. Sans’s magic. It’s nearly untraceable--Sans usually liked it that way--but being his brother and his soulmate Papyrus knows his magic. He knows when it has felt safe, like when she would hold him when he was a babybones and sung him to sleep; when Sans takes a shortcut, where it feel like a hole where he was supposed to be and how lonely it was; when he uses his blue magic, like when he plays with the Annoying Dog or plays tricks; but this time...This time it feels **d a n g e r o u s**. It’s coming from outside the bar, the alleyway. Papyrus doesn’t think about it and runs for the back door of the bar, through the kitchen down the hall, all to the cries of Alphys to come back. 

He slams out the back door and finds several humans on the floor, groaning or unconscious, pinned to the alley floor or walls with bones. They were all dressed in black. There was a smell in the air, not like garbage or filth but something burnt, tangy, and heavy almost...like... There were spatters of red along the floor and walls--And that when he saw Sans. His brother was slumped in the middle of the many bodies around him, pinned to the floor with bones. His skull was a glowing light amongst the dark alley.

“Brother? Sans?” Papyrus called, maneuvering his way around the fallen humans to find Sans looking at his hands in his lap, covered in red, while red painted the side of his skull. It looked like a hand print. Papyrus fell to his knees beside his brother, gathering him up into his lap, but Sans wouldn't look away from his hands. Papyrus looked away from his brother's hollowed gaze, not knowing what to say. He looked around at the fallen humans, but his sockets caught onto scorch marks on the alley floor that sizzled and burned. He followed the marks into a side alley, where felt tears prick his eyes when he recognized the bloodied white flowers that covered the body that lay at the end of it.

_**“ - - - - - !”** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pls don't kill me for doing this to you again.
> 
> Leave me a comment they make my days.
> 
> (SPOILER: next chapter is Sans's and - - - - -'s POV)


	13. Fallen and Not Getting Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> what happened in the alley.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is late and bit shorter than i'd like, but here it is.
> 
> thank you for all your patience and support guys: 800+ kudos, 150+ bookmarks, 10,000+ hits
> 
> I have a tumblr now: https://crossbladewing.tumblr.com/ (not much here yet but *shrug*)
> 
> Happy Halloween, Trick or Treat, go have fun, but be safe on this Taco Tuesday.

You had slipped out of the bar when you saw the shadows move outside. Fenrir was already on edge and had instantly been at your side, his hackles raised and growling. You had slipped into the alleyway, where the light to the back door had flicked on, casting you shadows onto the walls of the other buildings. There were several dumpsters along the long alley way and it had pocket alleyways that connected to the back of other businesses.

The wind blew through the alley, as you cautiously made your way further. You smelled something like bleach and the distinct smell of copper...no of BLOOD... There was the faint sound of metal sliding against metal and a click before you dove to the side, as a bullet knocked out the only light of the alley and casted everything into darkness.

Then there was a strange tingling feeling, like static, and goosebumps were raised on your skin. Sans appears behind you in a flash of blue light. A glowing blue eye casting his skeletal face with it’s dim light making him look dangerous. Fenrir had stuck by you and crouched in front of you defensively.

“seems like an odd place for a walk, eh humans?” he asks. A chorus of voices ring out. “Shit it’s the skeleton!” A light male voice says. He sounded young. “I told you this was a stupid idea!” an older female voice said. More voices sound around the alleyway in a panic and fear or anger. It was a lot of noise. “welp. you all should know how this song and dance goes. so... **wanna have a bad time?** ” Sans asks. A violent shiver racks you, as well as an icy chill, but you stand firm as Sans summons some bones and the humans rush, either running or standing firm.

A tall wall of bones blocks the runners from leaving. They glow blue and once touched the humans would jerk back in pain, cries coming from their throats, clutching at hands in pain or whirling around in fear. Sans is suddenly several feet in front of you and you’re pushed back by some glowing blue force. He turns back towards you, seemingly annoyed, by the frown on his face and his blank socket.

“ya should stay outta the way, human.” He’s not joking. Fenrir growls at him and he seems to look at him before dodging out of the way of a knife. The guy isn’t deterred as he goes straight for you. You see him flash a crazed smile, before Fenrir leaps at him, only for him to be slammed to the floor with a glowing blue heart in the middle of his chest. Fenrir lands on his back and the guy grunts as the knife goes skidded in your direction. It’s a long hunting knife, the handle is leather bound, but it hasn’t been kept well, the metal is chipped and there seems to be something caked onto the guard of the blade...

Sans freezes every human with his magic and you see blue hearts light up the alleyway. There are at least 20 people, including the man on the floor. The shivers and chill have not left your body, and your heartbeat can be heard in your ears now. It’s seems to echo throughout your own body, enough that you almost feel every part of you pulse with it. There’s so much magic in the air, but you can see that Sans is sweating luminous blue sweat. There’s the barest trace of a tremble to his outstretched hand. 

That doesn’t sit well with you, so you pull your own knife from it’s place and dart forward. You knock out the closest ones to Sans with hard, precise strikes with the handle of your blade, hard enough to send most of them to the ground, either unconscious or groaning in pain. Unfortunately, you also broke Sans’s concentration by doing so, and the (now free) people start retaliating. Some pull bats and swings only for you to dodge and sweep their legs from under them, or hit one of their comrades who didn’t dodge quick enough. Fenrir was already engaged with a woman, by her shrieking, as she backed up to a wall. It was just like the park you almost felt detached from your body as you blocked knifes and bars, dodged swings of bats and fists, and tripped up people.

You saw some of the downed people get flown into the walls of the alley with a blue aura, and you frowned at the overkill. Then you caught something out of the corner of your eye, someone holding a trembling stance and holding a gun leveled at Sans. _**“NO!”**_ You said, and that was enough for the guy to flinch and switch his attention to you. You lunged for him, which was just enough distraction for the guy to fire it. You were hyper-focused on the guy, everything in that moment seemed to be in perfect focus for you then. He was wearing a ski-mask but behind it his green eyes were wide with fear. His hand trembled and he opened his mouth to scream.

You felt an impact in your side, but kept advancing, another shot rung out and you felt an impact on your shoulder. You grabbed the guy’s hand and jerked them down, just as another shot went off, this time you felt an impact on your leg, but you had socked the guy in the head hard enough for him to be sent flying into the side of the dumpster. You breathed hard as you stared at him.

Your head hurt and your heart pounded in your ears, there was a knife and gun in your hands, your mask had flown off somewhere and your costume was torn...Your eyes were focusing and unfocusing on your surroundings: the downed bodies, small splatters of blood, the smell of metal and blood, the smell of sweat, bones that littered the alleyway like trash...Then you felt a burning sensation in your shoulder, side and leg, and then dull aches.There was a surge of magic now and your body felt as if it had been submerged in ice. Every part of you tingled, and the dull throb of your head and the dull aches were almost nonexistent as you slowly looked back at Sans. 

He looked like a skeleton on the warpath. His right eye-socket was a flame with blue--no not just his socket, but his very bones seemed tinged blue. An eerie, wicked smile on his skull. There were so many bones around him now, and all the humans, those who had somehow staggered to their feet or laid prone but still conscious, looked at the skeleton with fear. There was something wrong about this. You walked forward, not minding the bones that whizzed by your body to pin any and all humans behind you. There was a gigantic dragon-dog skull above him now, and you were almost at his side.

You had reached him... there was a loud growling and the whirring of power, but you didn’t mind it. All you wanted was to take that look off his face. That empty, broken, terrifying smile. You cupped his face with a hand and asked him a question, **“Why do you smile?”** There was another impact, right at your chest. Why was there a bone sticking out of you?--You couldn’t figure out why.Then you felt it--SAW it.

The pounding in your head and ears is stronger now. Your eyes focus on a bright blue-white light in the center of Sans’s chest, an upside down heart, an overwhelming melody fills your head. Then you’re falling backward, as you reach for it. There’s a burst of white light and then all you’re seeing is a vast empty void of stars. Your body feels heavy, but there’s pain. A burning sting pain in almost your entire being: in your chest, your side, your head, your shoulder, your leg...you’re chilled to the bone, lit aflame, electricity moves through you like a wire, but numb.

There’s a howl, deep, piercing, like a cry. Then there’s nothing.

\- - - -

It always came down to something like this, didn’t it? Sans thought bitterly, as he counted all the humans in the alley. He CHECKed all of them, and he didn’t like what he saw. He tried not to look back at the human, who he could feel staring at him, as well as their “dog”. He keeps his gaze towards the humans again when they speak up. “seems like an odd place for a walk, eh, humans?” he asks. He felt their anger, their fear, their intentions...he grinned wider and his socket flared blue. “Well you know how this song and dance goes, so...wanna have a bad time?” he asks.

He erupts a wall of bones when he sees that some had tried to run away, but others--about a handful stood their ground. He hadn’t noticed that he’d pushed the human farther behind him with his magic, until he found his hand stretched out back. What the hell? “you should stay outta the way, human.” He looks to the “dog” who growls at him, hackles raised and golden eyes flashing. He almost didn’t dodge the human coming at him with a knife, and for a second there’s he sees a flash of a child with a knife and a golden hallway.

The human keeps going though and Sans sees that the human shifts position, only for his “dog” to leap for the guy’s throat. He had already turned the guy’s soul blue before slamming him into the ground. The “dog” lands on the man’s chest growling at him, he whimpers. He whirls around and turns all the souls blue around him. He’s starting to feel a bit strained, because there were a lot of humans to take into consideration.

He hadn’t noticed that the human had darted past him, his dog at his heels. He had his own blade in hand and started swiftly striking the closest humans to Sans. He’s briefly distracted and opens his mouth to say something, but clicks his jaw shut as he sees them fight. He and his “dog” work in almost perfect sync. If he was dodging a blade he’d counter or trip his attacker, while the “dog” growled and snapped at the more frightened humans and had them backing off into the wall of bones or the sides of the alley.

The guy on the floor gets up and lunges for his blade, but Sans is ready and as he turns around he faces several sharp white bones. “who the hell are you fucking humans?” he asks. The guy’s grin turns evil, smug, and he says nothing. There’s a loud cry from behind him, _**“NO!”**_ The voice echoes in his skull, deep, almost broken and hoarse, but full of desperation and fear. He turns and fines the human lunging for a young trembling man with a gun. A shot goes off, but the human keeps advancing. His face is unveiled and his skull-painted face is almost dark with fury as another shot goes off.

He grabs the other man’s hands and another shot goes off as he rips the gun from the guy’s hands and punches him hard enough for the guy to hit a nearby dumpster with a rattling echo. Sans’s magic almost falters again, before coming full force. His socket is a ball of blue fire and each bone he summons is as sharp as one of Undyne’s spears. They appear en masse behind him. He feels his soul beat in his ribcage and he feels himself biting down hard on his jaw but all he does is stare down each of the humans.

The ones who had threatened _his friends...his family...his soulmate!!..._ The Judge was all out of Mercy. His vision flickered to the golden hall and every single human appeared to be a child in a striped sweater, brandishing a knife, grinning wide and red eyes flashing-- He sent out his bones. They flew towards every human he could see, save one. The wall of bones crumbled and a dark figure approached. A dark figure with a white face-- _no No NO_ \-- not HIM again. He summons a Gaster Blaster--how fitting, but he feels something warm and slightly wet and sticky on the side of his face.

 **“Why do you smile?”** a voice asks. THE voice asks. It’s clear in his head now, ringing in his skull like a bell, caressing his soul. The voice is deep and scratchy, but so sad and nostalgic. His soul feels a pull towards the voice and appears in between him and the figure. It pulses with magic and life and he sees a white hand reach towards it. NO. NOT AGAIN. He retaliates, a bone straight through the figure’s chest, large dark eyes peer at him from a tall, smudged skeletal face.

Everything comes back into focus again. The sounds of groans and screaming, a howl, the thud as the body of - - - - - falls to the floor, staring owlishly at the night sky, before slowly sliding shut. Sans can hear and feel a crack in a soul. He looks down at his hands and they shake as he takes in the form of the fallen human. There’s still howling and groaning and screaming. He falls to his knees, in disbelief, feeling over his wounds, trying to stop the blood. His hands come away bloody.

His Blaster whines behind him, but Sans soul pops from his chest and explodes with magic and light, sending a shockwave through the alley, scattering the bones, bodies, blood, and grime everywhere. There’s silence now as his Blaster disappears and he slumps forward to let silent cries shake his bones to the core.

\- - - -

Fenrir has always been with his human. He was loyal, a protector, a friend, everything his human needed that other humans could not give him. His human had found him at his most vulnerable and raised him, cared for him, took care of his needs until he proved to his human that he wasn’t a pup to be coddled. 

His human respected him, trusted him...now his human lay in the dirty alley, bone through his chest from the foolish skeleton. Fenrir had never known true remorse or pain or sorrow until that moment. He cried for his human, his companion his friend, and the endless night sky swallowed it all. But he feels something just before he’s thrown from his human’s side and into the nearby wall. It shakes him, but he finds his human’s flower crown, bloody and wilted.

He picks it up in his teeth, walks past the grieving skeleton, but he stops. His jaw opens in a snarl, but he does not do it. He was not worth the kill---no he shouldn't kill him. His human would not have liked it if he did. He sniffed around in the dark and found his master, much farther away than he thought they’b be. Perhaps it was the strange new smell surrounding them, something nostalgic and familiar. He walks closer as a crow perches on a roof nearby. It crows and he growls in response. It flies away, lightly dusting his human with its feathers.

He drop the flower crown on his stomach, as his back lays against the wall. He gives his human a lick, and then a nudge, trying to get him to wake,but his human's cheek is cold. He curls up against his human's side, to give him warmth. He finds he's much more tired than he thought he'd be and he closes his eyes just before a loud metallic “bang” echo through the alleyway and the voice of the younger skeleton reached them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't kill me.
> 
> Comments are appreciated and encouraged.
> 
> See you next time.
> 
> (everything else isn't quite ready, but I hope to get it out to you in the coming week/weekend)

**Author's Note:**

> anybody like it so far? hate it? confused?
> 
> Feedback and comments are appreciated.
> 
> Stay Determined.


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